Critical Thinking

Pareidolia

Pareidolia is the tendency to misperceive a meaningful pattern in a meaningless visual stimulus. For example, this is what happens when you look at the sky and you think the clouds are shaped like a smiling face, an angel or a cat. There are many other examples, such as a piece of toast that looks …

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Apophenia

Apophenia is the tendency to believe that there is some meaningful connection between unrelated objects, ideas or events. For example, imagine that you lose $10 only to find $10 the next day; or you are thinking about your mom just before she calls. Or that you are praying for something that happens after some time. …

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The Confirmation Bias

The confirmation bias is the tendency to seek, pay attention to and interpret information in a way that confirms what you already believe. For example, if you believe that God exists and you avoid information that challenges your belief, then you are influenced by the confirmation bias. How to avoid the confirmation bias? Seek out …

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