We’ve all been there. You see a lone trash bag on the corner of a street, waiting for the salvation of being taken out of sight, and for a moment, you’re like 99.9% sure it’s a dog. In fact, a dark-haired Australian shepherd. It’s still a bag, but you’d bet on your soul it’s not.
First, you’re not going mad and second, the chances are, you have just experienced a phenomenon known as pareidolia. It happens when you see inanimate objects with faces or bearing some human-like appearance. And it’s something our crazy brains were wired to do and that’s looking for familiarity in virtually everything, even the most random and strange stuff.
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So fasten your seatbelt, we’ve got you a fresh batch of hand-selected examples of pareidolia as compiled by Bored Panda to feast your eyes on. Psst! Check out more of this amusing stuff in our previous posts here, here, and here.
#1 I Found A Mushroom That Looks Like A Little Owl
Image credits: miss421
#2 I Have This Trunk Knot On A Tree In My Backyard That I Always Thought Looked Like A Regency Era Couple Kissing. Today, I Decided To Bring Them To Life
Image credits: chiquitamichi
Previously, Bored Panda spoke with professor Kang Lee from the University of Toronto about seeing objects with faces, a phenomenon which has a perfectly scientific explanation.
“Pareidolia illustrates the interaction between the visual cortex and the frontal cortex of the human brain. It suggests that our brain is highly sensitive and expecting to encounter and process some special classes of objects in our environment because they are biological and socially important to our adaptions to the environment,” Professor Lee explained to us.
In fact, our inner intention to detect things and patterns familiar to us is so strong that we often see them where no such thing could possibly exist. And we’re aware of it! “However, for some people, their frontal cortex’s expectation for certain objects becomes so high that they see faces in many situations where no faces exist.”
#3 Sometimes Mother Nature Can Be Creepy (Chesaning, Mi)
Image credits: Jennifer Yanik Hall
#4 Is It A Man Running Or?
Image credits: ClarkpDavidson
Although seeing things where they don’t exist, and especially human faces, may sound and feel like you’re going mad, Professor Lee assured us the phenomenon is totally normal and happens to many of us.
“There is nothing wrong with these individuals,” he stressed. Turns out, “Pareidolia is different from paranoia or delusion or abnormal vision of individuals with psychosis.”
In fact, “a recent study shows that those people with pareidolia tend to be more creative,” the professor added. Also, some people can be more prone to seeing things than others, like those who are very religious, since they “may be able to see religious icons in non-face objects as well.”
#5 Cat Is Surprised By The Atomic Explosion
Image credits: smartyy
#6 The Way My Ice Pack Is Defrosting Looks Like A Polar Bear
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Image credits: EricDangerRose
#7 This Rock That Looks Like A Severed Head
Image credits: VVHYY
#8 Turtle With A Reflection That Resembles A Face Of A Man
Image credits: Gatimon
#9 The Pattern On My Dogs Chest Looks Like A Cat Mid Sneeze
Image credits: VintageRice
#10 This Jalapeño Looks Like A T-Rex
Image credits: AberrantDevices
#11 Donald Trump Found In A Dogs Ear
Image credits: BanksyBhoy
#12 My Potato Looks Like It’s Trying To Escape Itself
Image credits: Moonri
#13 My Brain MRI Looks Like The Grinch
Image credits: indiaisthebestalways
#14 Sun’s Reflection On My Drinking Glass Creates Bart Simpson’s Skull
Image credits: 0zymandias21
#15 This Blob Of Hand Cream I Squeezed On My Hand Looks Like A Kitten
Image credits: yum_disc
“If someone reports seeing Jesus in a piece of toast, you’d think they must be nuts,” professor Lee previously told BBC Future. “But it’s very pervasive. We are primed to see faces in every corner of the visual world.” According to him, our imaginations exert a very powerful influence over our perceptions.
#16 Woke Up And Discovered My Wife Moved Our Coat Stand Yesterday
Image credits: gruesomeflowers
#17 You Know You’re In Trouble, When Your Mom Strikes This Pose
Image credits: EvansBrad
#18 Release Me
Image credits: TickNut
#19 Whilst Walking Into A Kitchen I Saw This Guy
Image credits: teamoth
#20 Cat Formed By Cracks Above My Light Switch
Image credits: spedzop
Another theory about why we see faces in random objects and places has to do with the belief that we developed pareidolia as a survival mechanism. For example, Carl Sagan, an astronomer, suggests that pareidolia helps us recognize faces from a far distance and determine whether it’s the enemy or an ally we’re looking at.
He also believes that the feature was more prominent in babies. “Those infants who a million years ago were unable to recognize a face smiled back less, were less likely to win the hearts of their parents, and less likely to prosper.” Some even claim that therefore, this survival allowed pareidolia to go through generations.
#21 Kawaii Gourd
#22 Miss Piggy
Image credits: jxdeholly
#23 Accidentally Created A Porcupine By Pouring Instant Coffee Over An Americano
Image credits: fishdust
#24 I Thought This Gourd Looked Like A Snail
Image credits: snaz27
#25 The Piece Of Paper That Is Frozen To The Back Of My Fridge Looks Like A Wiener Dog
Image credits: nighteeeeey
#26 Dog In A Dog
Image credits: jacobyh7
#27 Oh The Horrors
Image credits: _AlexHirsch
#28 This Snowman Air Bubble In My Soy Sauce Packet
Image credits: WillBrozInc
#29 There’s A Sid On My Sister’s Floor
Image credits: DuckRubberDuck
#30 After My 17th Near-Heart-Attack, I Realized- I Really Need To Move My Lamp
Image credits: 5_Frog_Margin
#31 This Tree Looks Like Swamp Thing
Image credits: arkan01d
#32 Blanket In My Dog’s Bed Looks Like A Dog
Image credits: emopriest
#33 Butterfly Looks Like An Animated Fox
Image credits: Kachowski_god_666
#34 Best Eggplant Ever
Image credits: stormrazor2
#35 Godzilla Cloud
Image credits: willgravedigger
#36 Recently Made Cupcakes And This Piece Of Snail-Looking Burnt Dough Scared The Hell Out Of Me
Image credits: hjvpp
#37 Happy Water Buffalo I Found
Image credits: Harcourtfentonmudd1
#38 5 Minutes Into Photosynthesis And Chill
Image credits: reddit.com
#39 This Knot In The Wood Looks Like A Frog
Image credits: ____Io_oI____
#40 This Grumpy Pie
Image credits: Niyi_M
#41 Ice Ghost Inside My Water Bottle
Image credits: oddball2194
#42 This Chip In My Window Looks A Bit Like A Cat
Image credits: andysschlong
#43 My Stapler And I Feel Similarly About Conference Calls
Image credits: erineestevenson
#44 My Blankets
Image credits: not_at_all_wise0
#45 This Rock That Looks Like A Hippopotamus
Image credits: ME_2017
#46 This Sweet Potato Flower Looks Like Little Groot Heads
Image credits: bayrho
#47 The Way This Knot In My Wall Looks Like A Dog
Image credits: DooberSnoober
#48 A Girl In My Class Looks Like A Dog In This Angle
Image credits: falakro25
#49 My Bacon Grease Looks Like Lionel Richie
Image credits: Nongfuspring07
#50 This Purple Carrot Looks Like A Bartender Ready To Take Your Drink Order And Listen To Your Troubles
Image credits: nancyxxu
Source: boredpanda.com