Who has never looked at a stain, object or any other item and associated the shape with a face? The human mind works in curious ways and gifts us by playing tricks on unique moments. Portanot, understand better the meaning of pareidolia and some practical examples from everyday life.

What is pareidolia?

Pareidolia is a mental phenomenon in which there is a misperception of a visual stimulus. In other words, a person can see an image by observing a pattern within another object, and thereby arrive at a recognizable shape, although determined by its actual structure.

Therefore, those who manifest this type of phenomenon end up creating an internal organization and give meaning to something without much structure. By way of example, think of stains on doors, walls, or even on clothes that can look like other things. In a curious way, the same visual pattern can be perceived in different ways by various people.

It is important to stress that if you are wondering whether pareidolia is a disease, don't worry, because it is not of a nature that causes harm to human beings. In this way, it is such a common response that it is the inability to perform it that is seen as a problem. In general, it shows the creative potential of our minds to give new meaning to something that was already concrete.

Perceptual distortion and perceptual deception

Pareidolia shows itself as a perceptual distortion, needing a sensory medium to capture an external stimulus The creation of other images through distortion can be understood in two ways:

Personal experiences

There is a perception that is different from the ordinary way of perceiving the world. In part, this comes from the experiences that the individual has already lived, governing his way of viewing the world. Thus, the way he perceives the stimulus comes from something he has encountered before.

Alteration of the logical sense

There is a change in the way the person understands logical objects. In other words, the physical configuration of his stimulus, the concrete object, gives rise to the illusion.

Psychological deceptions

They show how a new perception that adequately coexists with common perceptions It is worth noting that perceptual deception is not based on resident stimuli from the external world, as is the case with hallucinations.

Types of perceptual distortions

There are several types of perceptual distortions besides pareidolia. They comprise a classification where they are structured according to the way they manifest themselves:

Anomalies in the perception of characteristics

These are the ones that refer to the color visions we have in relation to some items. Thus, the individual picks up changes in the understanding of the color of objects, something even common if we take into account the variations. To better understand this, think of color blindness, where there is a deficiency in picking up the colors of objects. In this way, things become clearer.

Hyperesthesias and hypoesthesias

Here there is a more intense view on stimuli, especially physical and visual ones, for example, a person who can feel a sharp pain with minimal stimulus or nothing at all .

Abnormalities in perceptual integration

This type of change is less common than the other items on this list. It sometimes appears in schizophrenia or organic disorders.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis works on the idea of change in the capture of the shape of an object or a person, so its size can be larger than it really is or smaller than it should be.

Illusions

Illusions show themselves as a more complex and erroneous reception of the external world. In this context, besides pareidolia, you In addition, visions and auditory effects can occur. .

Influence on human culture

Throughout time, through records and stories, it is possible to observe how pareidolia has influenced mankind. In this way, the superficial way of observing some events has stirred many who believed in the existence of the divine. Thanks to this, many claim to see religious images, ET's, or people inside blots and blurbs.

There is a collective belief that there is a subliminal reality captured in some objects in several religions. Thus, birdsong, distant echoes or even the white noise of the television would be part of it. In addition, there are the more daring ones who claim that there is a connection to other worlds by listening to the sound of music records played backwards.

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For example, the Jewish or Muslim religions carry their own manifestations of pareidolia in their structures. This is defended when Muslims see Allah's name drawn in the clouds or on mountains .

Illusions

Illusions are seen as changes of structure in the ambiguous stimuli perceived by a person. This creates a mistaken perception of an object with a concrete image. Thus, the illusions end up not corresponding with the true physical characteristics of something.

These illusions depend largely on the human willingness to organize an isolated item in relation to the environment. In these terms, a simple visual configuration can break down into views with more complexity.

Play

As stated above, pareidolia is not a pathology, but a common movement of the human mind. So, with that in mind, this kind of phenomenon can be put to good use, for example, when playing with children For this reason, it becomes a creative way to increase family fun and leisure time.

The distribution of colored cards with spots can start a game with few materials and a lot of invention. In this case, those involved can draw on another sheet of paper what they see in the spots on those cards. At the end, everyone can buy the result of their art and see how they think and interact with the world.

Examples

This being the most entertaining part of the text, the examples of pareidolia are common and easy to find:

• See shapes in clouds - Who has never looked up at the sky and seen an animal, object, or even someone's face? The internet is full of images with famous faces or curious shapes to observe. In other words, it is a great example.
• Plants with physical changes - Fruits, vegetables do not have a pattern and can grow in the most varied forms, so it is not uncommon to see vegetables with animal shapes, faces, body parts, and even with other plants.
• Utensils - Shoes, cleaning materials, clothes, stains on doors, sheets... In other words, it is very easy to mold the view to see new shapes in these items. From here come faces on toilets, sinks, bathtubs, stoves, and other unusual utensils.

Final considerations on pareidolia

Generally speaking, pareidolia ends up exercising the individual's creativity. However, in a fun way Therefore, this kind of reaction exposes the person's creativity, so it can change the way he or she looks at random and common everyday shapes.

We reiterate that this is not a stage of any disease or pathology, but a natural reflection of the mind, so exercise your perception of the world and find ways to give new meaning to something that already exists.

To help you in this exercise, enroll in our 100% online Psychoanalysis course. The purpose of this course is for you to find your potential with developed self-knowledge. In this way, you will better deal with your issues. Beyond pareidolia, you will see new possibilities to have the life you want .