Pareidolia

Pareidolia ( from AltGr. Παρα para, next to ',' past ', and εἴδωλον eidolon, form ', ' manifestation ') refers to the phenomenon to identify putative faces and familiar creatures or objects into things and patterns.

Examples

Known examples of Pareidolien include passing clouds, remember the shape of everyday things, but also landscape formations, such as the " Face on Mars " in the Cydonia region of Mars. The spots of the Moon also call rogue figures see out, so the "Rabbit in the Moon". Another well-known phenomenon that goes hand in hand with Pareidolien, is the so-called " apparitions ".

Cause

Pareidolien are the result of consciously or unconsciously induced misinterpretations by the human brain: This tends to complete diffuse and seemingly incomplete perception of images and structures and align familiar patterns and shapes. The type and shape of the illusions appear to depend on the expectation of the brain. The fact that very often human faces are perceived, probably based on a kind of " natural alarm function ," which is intended to ensure that people also make in everyday life hiding people and faces and identify (again) can recognize.

Pareidolien differ from Apophänien (see below) and in particular from hallucinations in that they can firstly be controlled voluntarily, and on the other, then do not disappear when observing the supposed face / object intently. Furthermore, in particular a natural Pareidolia ( Cloud, landscape formation, etc.) are usually perceived by several people simultaneously.

Apophenia

The apophenia is a sub-form of pareidolia and something is excluded as this. So it is limited to the aspect, " look into it " in a random structure something. In contrast, the Pareidolia also includes the (active) sought perceptions, such as the voices in a spiritual meeting.