Pareidolia
Jesus in a piece of toast, a face on Mars, Teletubbies in the clouds, people can see virtually all manner of things in most objects as long as the background is sufficiently randomized. Even with myself, I can see deformed faces and the occasional demon in the kitchen laminate.
But of course, one’s Lord and Savior has better things to do than to make an appearance on a piece of Wonder Bread. And the infamous face on Mars…shadowplay and theatrics of light.
Pareidolia is a brain phenomenon where the person sees images or significant pictures in random backgrounds. It can typically happen with backdrops where the canvas is mottled or random and sometimes, when the milieu is a repeated picture.
The word etymology comes from the Greek, ‘Para’ which means something is wrong or faulty and the noun, ‘eidōlon; which, can mean image, form or shape.
The concept of pareidolia has been around since the 1860’s, so not that long. But the concept hasn’t been objectively referred to as such until 1962. Originally spelled pareidolie from German, the ending ‘e’ was changed to an ‘a’ for English to signify a condition.
Pareidolia is a specific sub-set of a larger condition called Apophenia. This is the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated ideas or things. In general, male faces are more than likely to be seen than female. And at that, it’s been shown, emotion can be perceived in those faces. Even chimpanzees have been shown to elicit this behavior, just not as developed or nuanced as humans and that’s largely due to our constant stimuli from social media.
A 2020 study in the Journal of Psychological Science suggested that the human brain had evolved to quickly pick out faces in a complex visual scene as an evolutionary safeguard. This is thought of because of two reasons. First, the brain will try and assign order and recognition to wherever it can making the unknown, known. And two, being able to recognize a face as familiar means friendly and not a threat or possible harm.
A study in 2022 using EEG’s, found significant activity in the frontal and occipitotemporal cortexes of the brain after being shown random images of people. Said images included randomized patterns and simple line drawings. The same cognitive process that enables us to see a face made of simple lines & circles, also enables us to see faces in static, piles of leaves or slopes of gravel and rock. And amazingly, emotion can also be conveyed in those faces.
Because of this tendency to make or see connections between unrelated objects (apophenia), it’s thought that people who exhibit this more frequently than others may have increased bouts of creativity, focus and be better at problem-solving.
In terms of applying this to the field of the paranormal, it’s no surprise that those who go looking for ghosts will have increased chances of seeing paranormal events. In the daytime, looking at an old, time-weathered mirror resplendent with age-stains (mirror-desilvering or foxing), can present to the observer an image of a demon or face looking back at them in the darkness of night. Pair with this, the phenomenon of confirmation bias, then the would-be ghost hunter will find what they’re looking for 10 times out of 10.
Shadow people can be seen in doorways or in corners where shadows are cast. A face can be seen on a distant wall where imperfections come out & play under low-light conditions. And objects can sometimes seem to move when one adjusts their vantage. However, this is not to say that everything paranormal can be easily explained. But one must rule out everything in order to stay honest; and sometimes, this includes one’s own beliefs.
Other examples include:
• An elongated face in the trunk of a tree made from knots and curvatures of bark
• Cats or dragons in the clouds
• The Virgin Mary dropping in include herself on your piece of toast
• Attributing darker spots of a burial cloth to Jesus because they have a human outline (Turin)
• Seeing a smiling face in the bubbles of your morning latte
Within the paranormal, everything is stacked against the believer. So one must be diligent and knowledgeable in all aspects of science and logic that could be used to disprove a theory as wrong. But hypocritically, with the pious, this never seems to be the case. But when you’re in the majority of a belief system, selling a grilled cheese sandwich to someone on eBay for $28,000 (Diane Duyser of Miami) with the likeness of Jesus Christ is somehow accepted. So then, who’s being honest?
All this to say, pareidolia effects everyone regardless of culture, background, religious beliefs, identity etc. But belief itself, can play a large role in what you see and what you choose to see.
Jesus likes his toast!