When I started this Topic, I never claimed to have my own personal definition of pareidolia, but rather wanted to explore the subject. I started out using this definition as the backdrop for discussion:
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Reference:
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/
<b>Definition:
Pareidolia</b> (/pr#616;#712;do#650;li#601;/ parr-i-doh-lee-#601;) is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant, a form of apophenia. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.
The word comes from the Greek words para (#960;#945;#961;#940;, "beside, alongside, instead") in this context meaning something faulty, wrong, instead of; and the noun eid#333;lon (#949;#7988;#948;#969;#955;#959;#957; "image, form, shape") the diminutive of eidos. Pareidolia is a type of apophenia, seeing patterns in random data.
Name: modern
NOTE - formerly named 'rev 1', changed on 12/20/2013
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But as I re-read the topic while fixing the images, it occurred to me that all throughout the discussions and debates, I had my own idea of how it broke down and what the subtleties are. I still think pareidolia (ressler) zeroes in on the essence of it, but I'm going to add a few things that I think settles some of the more recent debate and clarifies why I say there is no "error" involved. My reference is basically this topic, so I'll link to Page 1.
[Proposed new (fifth) definition of pareidolia]
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<b>Reference:</b>
www.metaresearch.org/msgboard/topic.asp?...C_ID=873&whichpage=1
<b>Definition:
Pareidolia</b>
1. The manifestation of a personal human trait, in which we perceive images (or sounds) in random patterns that appear to be man-made (or God-made, or Martian-made, etc.), but in fact aren't. They are merely patterns which our mind interprets and fills in the blanks to create what seems to be something that is man-made (or God-made, or Martian-made, etc.)
2. On close inspection, all pareidolic images are interpreted from a rational standpoint (i.e., they either go away totally, or are understood for what they really are.) Some examples might be: faces, bodies, armies, buildings or vehicles in the clouds, in shadows, in trees, in wallpaper, on the Moon or Martian surface. All which appear man-made, but when examined closely, are understood to be everyday objects, or natural features of the landscape, etc.
3. Pareidolic images are essentially the "partial hallucinations" described in Def 3 pareidolia (original) with the exception that they are the manifestation of a normal human trait, rather than a mental disorder.
4. An important element of this definition is the <b>question </b> of whether or not the object in question is real and/or man-made or merely an image we have constructed in our minds from the pattern. For this reason, clocks and the back of trucks and the like are specifically excluded, since we already know they are real and man-made. Without this underlying question, we are not dealing with a pareidolic image under this definition.
Name: derosa
NOTE: This definition <b>specifically excludes </b> any and all images of the type shown on this page (
www.flickr.com/groups/hellolittlefella/
) which are, in fact, real and man-made, but have shapes that can sort of look like something else (a face). Because we know them to be real and man-made in the first place, they don't apply.
rd
