[dentstudent]

Well, I do all the time and this phenomenon is called "Pareidolia". It is the ability of the mind to make patterns from random "noise", such as seeing faces in the fronts of cars by the way the headlights and grill are situated. Also, with something like this  :-)  smiley face. This happens not only with visual stimuli, but with sounds too - sometimes you may think that you have heard a voice, but in fact it was the result of a mixture of sounds and/or harmonics that your brain translates as something more recognisable. This ability to "see" patterns in otherwise random structures can be seen as an evolutionary advantage - those that spotted the predator in the jungle (the face in the random noise) were more likely to have survived than those that didn't.

My favourite pareidolia effect can be seen on Google Earth (which I'm assuming that you already have and am therefore not advertising for it). Just put in these coordinates, and tell me what you see!

50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W

Post up your own pareidolia photos and favourites - there are plenty around - just look in your burger bun!

[neilep]

YES YES YES YES !!!!


Is that what it's called ?

I see pareidolia all the time in my curtain pattens !...for the sake of good taste I will abstain at the moment from posting a picture because they are very  1990's....quite floral and although very nice, might make ewe think you're on an acid trip in a floral meadow.

However, I see faces in the various swirls all the time and always look out for more.

Mirrors too !...are prime examples where I experience pareidolia indefinitely ! 

As does my 12 year old daughter who clearly sees this in any reflective surface !!...

[RD]

The NunBun (a cinnamon bun resembling Mother Teresa of Calcutta)...

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4562170.stm

It also looks like an unsuccessful boxer wearing a hoodie. 

[neilep]

Lets not also forget the Messiah in a dog bum !

[RD]

Rasputin in cat ear/fur...

[techmind]

At my parents' house when I was young they had a wallpaper in the hallway which was basically a creamy colour with an autumnal "leafy" pattern (pale-ish leaves and big-ish gaps between them). In bed as a child I used to stare at the wallpaper, and I could see at least three different faces in the paper, including an older (male) clown, a youngish (18-19yo) girl, and another. I don't know whether we have any samples of the paper still lying around...

Of course the original is the man on the moon!

[RD]

Of course the original is the man on the moon !

The Chinese see a rabbit in the moon...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit

(The moon does appear different from different latitudes,
 of course in the southern hemisphere it is the opposite way up).

[DoctorBeaver]

I often see a face in the bathroom mirror.

[lyner]

When I look in mine, I see my Dad.

[Don_1]

50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W ???

So that's what the Mrs has been getting up to on Friday evenings; helping out at a youth club, my foot.

[dentstudent]

In our last apartment, you couldn't help but see a lion in the tiles. At a conference recently, I saw Pris (from Bladerunner) in the linoleum floor. I have the photo somewhere....

[dentstudent]

Of course the original is the man on the moon !

The Chinese see a rabbit in the moon...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit

(The moon does appear different from different latitudes,
 of course in the southern hemisphere it is the opposite way up).

Other extra-terrestrial pareidolia phenomenon are the face on Mars:

http://www.msss.com/education/facepage/face.html


Bigfoot on Mars (it's a busy place!):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/23/scimars123.xml

and of course, the Horsehead Nebula

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehead_Nebula

[DoctorBeaver]

I saw a cloud shaped like a beaver. Does that count?

[dentstudent]

That's odd, I once saw a beaver shaped like a cloud....

[dentstudent]

So, what's at 50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W?

[dentstudent]

Here's a recent item where scientists thought that they may have found a body of a WWII airman.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/asia_pac_enl_1220522706/html/1.stm

but infact merely was the way that moss, vines and the trees had grown

[DoctorBeaver]

So, what's at 50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W?

Have a look for yourself http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=50%C2%B0+0%2738.20%22N+110%C2%B0+6%2748.32%22W&ie=UTF8&om=1&t=h&z=16&ll=50.010759,-110.11116&spn=0.005668,0.014377

[dentstudent]

So, what's at 50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W?

Have a look for yourself http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=50%C2%B0+0%2738.20%22N+110%C2%B0+6%2748.32%22W&ie=UTF8&om=1&t=h&z=16&ll=50.010759,-110.11116&spn=0.005668,0.014377

DB - I was asking the others if they had looked - I know what's there 'cos I asked it in the first place!!!

[DoctorBeaver]

I had a late night

[RD]

I saw a cloud shaped like a beaver.

Was it an angry beaver ?, like this angry geezer ...




http://www.schizoidman.com/top-20-things-that-look-like-other-things.html

[Karen W.]

I often see a face in the bathroom mirror.

LOL.... me too!!! Sometimes the face is quite scary!!!
Hey..I love this thread!!!!!!! I did not know there was a name for this phenomenon.... I am awful about this.. I see faces in clouds, shower stall swirly design in the Formica or wall panels... I also see them in the curly redwood ceiling in my bedroom.....knotty pine also... in tons of things.. I have always loved patterns in things...

Cool thread!!!

[DoctorBeaver]

I see facs in clous

[Karen W.]

Sorry was on my phone.. and the keyboard is itsy bitsy! All corrected now!

[Make it Lady]

After a make it session I brought my glitter trays home to hose down and noticed Jesus in one and Elvis in the other. I also saw Jeremy Paxman on the top of a mushroom. I really must stop picking them.

[Bass]

There's a face on my clock...

(no, not the digital ones)