Pareidolia

<p>Pareidolia  is the tendency for <a href="/facts/Perception/xLK0n2q4">perception</a> to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous <a href="/facts/Stimulus_(physiology)/aBcpBfYQ">stimulus</a>, usually visual, so that one detects an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none. Pareidolia is a specific but common type of <a href="/facts/Apophenia/CLQ15Yat">apophenia</a> (the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things or ideas).
</p><p>Common examples include <a href="/facts/Cloud/KDgo0Wqu">perceived images</a> of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations; seeing faces in inanimate objects; or <a href="/facts/Lunar_pareidolia/1bQ8G8nh">lunar pareidolia</a> like the <a href="/facts/Man_in_the_Moon/5gxKwUDu">Man in the Moon</a> or the <a href="/facts/Moon_rabbit/4t7J3Q1h">Moon rabbit</a>. The concept of pareidolia may extend to include <a href="/facts/Hidden_message/of0cuGyl">hidden messages</a> in recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing voices (mainly indistinct) or music in random noise, such as that produced by air conditioners or by fans. Face pareidolia has also been demonstrated in <a href="/facts/Rhesus_macaque/TkffMX9v">rhesus macaques</a>.
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Pareidolia open-in-new

Pareidolia