General

Perceived Images

Do you see faces in inanimate objects? 

Do you see the shape of animals in cloud formations?

Maybe you see a face on a rock with “eyes” like the Wall Of Faces that I wrote about earlier.

This perception, along with hearing hidden messages in music, is called pareidolia.

Pareidolia has been used by humans for eons.  It has even helped protect mankind from predators. 

You thought you saw eyes in that bush and took off?  Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t but if there was really a lion in that bush stalking you, you just saved your own life by taking off.

Women are more likely to have this perception. It is believed that the reason is that they are more in tune with human emotion.

People who are neurotic or depressed are also more likely to experience pareidolia. They seem to be on high alert for danger and are therefore more likely to see things that aren’t as real as perceived.

There are examples of this phenomenon in art, architecture, religion, medical education and computer vision.

The next time you look up in the sky and see the shape of your puppy dog, or you look down at a rock mulched planting bed and see the a face on one of those rocks smiling at you, remember that you are not going crazy and that your perception is perfectly normal.

When this happens you can know that pareidolia has helped mankind survive and thrive and will continue to do so for as long as mankind exists!

Comments are encouraged and welcomed!

To view a larger image of the photograph used with this blog post (and to read the back story) click here: