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Pareidolia of the Weak

Pareidolia

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The term pareidolia describes a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse. The word comes from the Greek para- —"beside", "with" or "alongside"- meaning, in this context, something faulty or wrong (as in paraphasia, disordered speech)—and eidolon—"image" (the diminutive of eidos—"image", "form", "shape"). Pareidolia is a type of apophenia.

 

Examples - Religious

There have been many instances of perceptions of religious imagery and themes, especially the faces of religious figures, in ordinary phenomena. Many involve images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or the word Allah.

In 1978, a New Mexican woman found that the burn marks on a tortilla she had made appeared similar to the traditional western depiction of Jesus Christ's face. Thousands of people came to see the framed tortilla.

The recent publicity surrounding sightings of religious figures and other surprising images in ordinary objects, combined with the growing popularity of online auctions, has spawned a market for such items on eBay. One famous instance was a grilled cheese sandwich with the Virgin Mary's face.

 

Explanations - Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan hypothesized that as a survival technique, human beings are "hard-wired" from birth to identify the human face. This allows people to use only minimal details to recognize faces from a distance and in poor visibility but can also lead them to interpret random images or patterns of light and shade as being faces.

 

From reference.com


 




Another Jesus On Toast! Pareidolia Of The Week! Print E-mail
Other Main Page - Pareidolia of the Weak
Written by Brian Walsh   
Tuesday, 31 August 2010 22:56

Here's another Jesus on toast. But click on the image, it links to the original article which is quite amusing.

 

 
Update On The Mars Face! Pareidolia Of The Week! Print E-mail
Other Main Page - Pareidolia of the Weak
Written by Brian Walsh   
Wednesday, 04 August 2010 23:19

OK, this image came from the Daily Mail. But it's actually a decent article. A new image of the infamous face on Mars. Click on the image to go to the full story.

 

 
Guardian Angels! Pareidolia Of The When I Feel Like It! Print E-mail
Other Main Page - Pareidolia of the Weak
Written by Brian Walsh   
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 23:45

OK, I'm not going to take the obvious route and beat up on these parents or all of the logical fallacies presented below. But see if you can listen to the guy being interviewed without wanting to hit him.

 

 

 

 
A Cartoon Explanation! Pareidolia Of The Week! Print E-mail
Other Main Page - Pareidolia of the Weak
Written by Brian Walsh   
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 00:26

I have posted many explanations of pareidolia before, but none as good as this.

 

 

Find more goodness at http://cectic.com/.

 
A Couple Of, Um, How Do I Say It? Pareidolia Of The Week! Print E-mail
Other Main Page - Pareidolia of the Weak
Written by Brian Walsh   
Thursday, 24 June 2010 01:24

This week I bring you (yeah, I know I'm late) a couple of (I'm sure very nice) um, people and their amazing discovery.

Without further ado:

 

 

So what is that awful stain on the wall that they seem oddly proud of? Yup. Jesus. Really.

 

From the article I found on Skepchick:

 

A couple decorating their home had the fear of God put into them after this image of the baby Jesus appeared – on their WALLPAPER.

Stunned Sheila and Richard Woolhouse were stripping old wallpaper from their kitchen when they spotted the religious incarnation.

The eerie damp marking appears to show a baby wrapped in linen – with eyes, nose, mouth and hair clearly defined.

 

Clearly defined? OK, sure. That's definitely a mildew stain. Clearly defined. Unless Jesus has been hiding all of these years. Behind wallpaper. In fungus. As a baby. Hmm....

 
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