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 like Jesus, a faucet that looks like a face, the shape of a star in the coffee foam and so on.

The man in the moon is another example.

Basically whenever you think that you are seeing a face or an animal on an object or surface that is most definitely not a face or an animal, this is pareidolia in action.

This may also apply to audio stimuli when you imagine there are hidden messages in sounds.

How to avoid pareidolia

  • When you see faces, animals or other meaningful shapes in the clouds, coffee foam, toast or any other object, remind yourself that this is just pareidolia in action.
  • This is a tendency of your brain, so do not try to assign any higher meaning to it. If you see Jesus on a piece of toast, this is pareidolia, not a message from Jesus or God.
  • Sometimes it can be fun to look for shapes and patterns in certain images.
  • You can still do this for entertainment if you want. But remind yourself that this is a normal phenomenon and it should not influence life decisions in any way.
  • Ask other people what they see; you may be surprised to notice that they do not see the same thing (unless you point it out).

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