The catchphrase 'Now you're thinking with portals' originated from the marketing materials and in-game dialogue of Valve's 2007 puzzle-platformer, Portal. It encourages players to move beyond linear logic and use the game's portal mechanics to solve complex spatial challenges. In internet culture, the meme evolved to represent any situation where someone finds a brilliant, non-traditional, or 'big brain' solution to a problem. The visual template typically utilizes the iconic orange and blue portal aesthetic to show an object or person entering one side and emerging in a completely different, often unexpected context, symbolizing a shortcut through reality or conventional rules.