Why Do We Always Perceive Faces On Random Pattern?

Do you experience seeing faces on an object or pattern? Do you sometimes notice an image appeared in cloud formation or on that coarse concrete wall in front of you? Or on a rough bark of your neighbor’s tree? Was there something image forming on your mind on that surface on which stains remained? I’m sure there was and you probably wondered. Giving a try to get an answer why such thing happens is the reason why you are reading this post.

I’d been looking for a clear explanation, like you do, when those same experiences started to be remembered. My curiosity ignited completely and drove me to a situation of being unsatisfied without knowing the secrete. It’s true. It may not be so interesting to some but it really was to me.

The most memorable experience that I’ve had is when I was at the age of five. There was no something so remarkable but just because of being curious in nature it became an indelible homework to me to find an answer. Roughly 12 in the afternoon, while I was laid in our mattress, my eyes were pacing all over the surface of our rusty old roof scattered with tiny holes. I realized, near the corner, bunches of rust spots incorporated with two of those holes look like a face of an old man with glowing eyes.

A portion of those rust spots seemed to be the beard. Likewise, on separated spots in a small distance seemed to be his lips. And there was more bunches of spots which gathered in elongated triangular shape would be the nose. It was so ironic, the two radiant holes have been sharing sunlight from the outside played the role of glowing eyes. Stain that seemed to be a cause of dirt surrounded them completed the detail of that face. Darn! Why do I imagine such thing from those inane rust spots, stains and holes? Have you asked yourself with the same question?

Well, there will be neither room for confusion nor to wonder why for I’m going to explicit everything that I’ve learnt in my past research. A narrow research which enough to change wonder into knowing spinning in an inquisitive mind. Enough to answer the following simple questions “What actually is going on! And why such thing exists?”

Okay, ranting about experience is enough. It’s just a psychological phenomenon, a mere product of our intuitive mind. It is called “Pareidolia”, a common phenomenon that everyone experiences whenever it finds opportunity. Pareidolia must not to be confused with apparition if the drawn image resembling the characteristic of the appearance of, let’s say, a god or a deceased person, since there is a huge distinction between Pareidolia and apparition. Pareidolia is a real one and about the apparition – I don’t believe in apparition. It is just that.

As what I’ve said, All of us are very susceptible and are not exempted to experience this seemed to be inexplicable imaginal inference. As a matter of fact, Pareidolia is inherent in human but not necessarily means extrinsic in other species. Underpinned by empirical notion from a renowned cosmologist Carl Sagan, Pareidolia is a substantial maneuver of natural selection and indispensable to our evolution.

As Carl Sagan’s Hypothesis, seeing imaginal faces in random pattern is an advantage that embodies survival method that may implies possible danger. The environment in which we are pacing was truly harsh and hostile. Since wild animals are co-existed, we became more observant. Consequently, perceptive outlining faces from a distance or in uncertain appearances became something so natural to us and at which we became skilled. We became succumbed to seeing faces to which we became more responsive to clarify the sensed image if it was a real one or a dangerous one or wasn’t.

Let me give another trivia. Visual phenomenon is not only the case when we talk about pareidolia, although this case by which, pareidolia has been known to many, auditory phenomenon has to be take into consideration. Seeing faces in meaningless pattern, likewise but in a different case, auditory pareidolia is concerning about hearing sound or noise where resemble speech. It develops in the same way how visual pareidolia develops in us. To be more alert in a certain form of image and sound that might be cautious to us.

An instance of auditory pareidolia is backmasking, a recording technic performing by particular individual who might have some agenda, in which a sound or massage is recorded and played backward. Most of them have to claim the existence of hidden massage when it happened to be heard an even quite vague speech. Like some of us, we usually claimed we saw a god in clouds, or we heard voices abruptly but the truth is, it’s not a real thing, it’s just a psychological thing.

So everytime you encounter this kind of experience just remind yourself to compare it to our ancestors’ hostile experiences.

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