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Molo · 03-01-2005, 10:43 PM

Ah yes, as many others have pointed out, our brains are programmed to recognize patterns, not just faces (though that is the most common).

It's known as pareidolia. It's essentially just looking for something familiar in something that is unfamiliar. Such as seeing objects in the clouds, or the face of the virgin mary in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Pareidolia also works with the idea of priming. Sometimes people won't see something in the smoke until you tell them what to look for. Such as in this case, some people may not have been able to see the 'face of the devil' in the first picture, until you told them that they were looking strictly at the face, and not the body. The first time I saw the picture I thought it looked more like a tely-tubby. Of course then this works on a double level of priming, because we are told to look for the face of the devil, even though no one (supposedly), has even seen the face of the devil, we have just seen renditions of him in pieces of art (movies, tv, books, etc.). We just think we see the devil because that's what we're told to associate a menacing face with horns with. Who knows, maybe if the devil does exist, he looks like something completely different.

If you want another example of priming, just think of those crazy backwards songs, like Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'. I'm sure most have at least heard about the portion of the track that you play backwards and supposedly hear things about worshipping the devil. But most people don't realize what is actually being said backwards until they are told what they are supposed to hear.

Wow, I never thought philosophy class would help out an Engineer like myself.

The last one looks interesting though. It's probably just a seagull though. I think it's more in the foreground than it appears.

03-01-2005, 10:43 PM	#18 (permalink)
Molo Upright Location: Waterloo	Ah yes, as many others have pointed out, our brains are programmed to recognize patterns, not just faces (though that is the most common). It's known as pareidolia. It's essentially just looking for something familiar in something that is unfamiliar. Such as seeing objects in the clouds, or the face of the virgin mary in a grilled cheese sandwich. Pareidolia also works with the idea of priming. Sometimes people won't see something in the smoke until you tell them what to look for. Such as in this case, some people may not have been able to see the 'face of the devil' in the first picture, until you told them that they were looking strictly at the face, and not the body. The first time I saw the picture I thought it looked more like a tely-tubby. Of course then this works on a double level of priming, because we are told to look for the face of the devil, even though no one (supposedly), has even seen the face of the devil, we have just seen renditions of him in pieces of art (movies, tv, books, etc.). We just think we see the devil because that's what we're told to associate a menacing face with horns with. Who knows, maybe if the devil does exist, he looks like something completely different. If you want another example of priming, just think of those crazy backwards songs, like Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'. I'm sure most have at least heard about the portion of the track that you play backwards and supposedly hear things about worshipping the devil. But most people don't realize what is actually being said backwards until they are told what they are supposed to hear. Wow, I never thought philosophy class would help out an Engineer like myself. The last one looks interesting though. It's probably just a seagull though. I think it's more in the foreground than it appears. __________________ Everyone on the Universal Serial Bus!