Do you see human features in these photos? Do you see faces and recognizable shapes in clouds? Or religious figures in nature? Then you are experiencing a psychological phenomenon called Pareidolia; it was first termed in 1994 by Steven Goldstein.
These images are not the best of examples of pareidolia, but I connected with them. Their forms made me sympathize with them … they seem to be hugging, loving each other … The photographs are the collaboration between nature, and photographer Carl Warner.
Why do humans have these tendencies to sympathize with objects and connect with them by discerning human features? Carl Sagan (great scientist / astronomer) believed this is caused from our instincts to recognize human features, to be able to discern and connect with other humans even under harsh weather conditions and in the dark. The Rorschach inkblot tests used Pareidolia to have insight into a person’s mental state by dissecting the perceptions of the one being tested. But is it only our own psychological making or does nature manifest in a sort of “re-incarnation” of humans .. maybe both?







+ Links that have imagery of Pareidolia:
 http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/gallery/index.php?x=browse&category=20&pagenum=1 
 http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=&t=k&om=1&z=16&ll=50.010525,-110.113242&spn=0.010673,0.019956 
 http://maps.google.com/?ll=17.986897,-99.807014&spn=0.156741,0.21286&t=k 
http://www.forteantimes.com/community/photos/685/bottom_mushroom.html
 http://www.yoism.org/?q=node/129 

Sat, Dec 29, 2007  Permanent link