2
POPSGullibility on Display pareidolia (payr.eye.DOH.lee.uh) n. The erroneous or fanciful perception of a pattern or meaning in something that is actually ambiguous or random. —pareidolic adj. Example Citations: Pareidolia is common enough, and predates the space program by a millennium or two. We've all seen the Man in the Moon, or faces and images of ships and elephants in cloud formations. ... In 1978, some 8,000 people made pilgrimages to the home of a New Mexico woman who discovered a picture of Jesus in a burned tortilla. And in 2001, thousands saw the face of Satan captured in a CNN video and Associated Press photos of smoke billowing from the World Trade Center. (For a great collection these and more example of pareidolia, visit http://thefolklorist.com).
2
POPSIt Beats Jesus on Toast! I'm astounded too. Not by the "Allah meat" but by the gullibility of people. And they even found a vet who gave credence by claiming it "defied scientific explanation". As far as no explanation this shows an astounding lack of imagination. I'm no vet but can readily come with an explanation as could any rational person. But then, who ever claimed that the Allah beef followers were rational? There is a name for this phenomenon: pareidolia: "The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the viewer; such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals or seeing shapes in clouds." I'm off to McD now and fully expect to find a holy patty. Ha!
2
POPSThe Man in the Moon, Jesus, EVPs and Inkblots Ever wonder what our tendency to make structure, pictures and sound out of what some may think is meaningless stimuli? It is called pareidolia and this small article gives a damn good definition. Visit the source to read Carl Sagan's view on what the explanation for our brain to do this is...
2
POPSJesus in My Oatmeal For those of you out there who have recently been awed by the appearance of Jesus or Mary in your marmalade here's a more rational explanation for you to try on. Rationality. It's really a good thing.
0
POPSAngels spotted in the clouds Seeing faces in the clouds. Wow. I didn't realize such extraordinary proof was above my head all this time. Actually it appears it is just another case of pareidolia seen by a couple credophiles.
3
POPSOptical illusion resource: Planet Perplex If this has been clipped before, please forgive me. (Wish we had a way to tell beforehand if an URL was already clipped... hmmm feature suggestion!) This is a tidy and very fun gallery of optical illusions, ambigious images, hidden images, and more. Lots of exercise for your eyes. I know this type of thing is rather popular on Clipmarks, so all the better to share it with whoever's interested!
6
POPSSeeing and believing: finding religious images in ordinary things A nicely done piece from the LAT on the phenomenon called "pareidolia," the perception of coherent images and patterns in otherwise random markings (e.g., seeing the Virgin Mary's face in a grilled cheese sandwich). A widespread phenomenon that may have an explanation in cognitive psychology.
1
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update