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Hey! After the good reception in my previous blog post with a list of photos taken in my walks, I just though of continuing to share more of these photos but now with a more specific theme. Today I wanted to talk about a very specific word: "pareidolia". You may or not hear that word before.
Not wanna sound like a narcisistic brat, but there was a time, sometime in the early 2010s, when most humans had no idea what procrastination was. It'd sound like a weird, totally unknown word for most of them. Some years later more people used or even abused of that word, and nowadays it is totally mainstream and nearly everyone knows.
I wouldn't be surprised if, in a not very distant future, "pareidolia" becomes just as popular and cool of a word. If that ever happens, please, remember of that weirdo from that weird website who once posted about this weird thing!
In short: a pareidolia is an unintended or casual visual effect that consists on seeing recognizable shapes or patterns in totally mundane things that obviously don't have any of that.
If you are into coffee and you see a figure of Jesus there, that is a pareidolia. If you see a scary screaming face after cutting a bell pepper in half, that is a pareidolia. If you see a cat scratching over some important object of yours... maybe that is not a pareidolia but a real cat and you better be more careful next time!
According to Wikipedia: Pareidolia is "the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one detects an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none."
Arguably there are also audio-type pareidolias, which explains the causes for EVH (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). But we are going to talk only about the visual ones here. And more specifically about some I found in nature during my walks.
Anyways... now we go with the photos and brief explanations for each.
This is one of my favorites. An end path that looks like it could be the entrance to a cave ... if there were a cave. But that tree, bunch of grass or whatever in the left... I don't think I'm the only one seeing a mix of Treant and bear there.
This weird broken tree trunk... it's just me or you can clearly see a somewhat kawaii style face in there? Distance between eyes, nose and mouth aren't realistic at all, but still totally recognizable.
This one is admitedly a bit harder to see, maybe you'll need more imagination. But still, I bet more people besides myself will be able to see some weird and funny creature at the left of the trunk, with a head reminding of a hedgehog, skirrel or whatever, and rising an arm with a hand gesture suspiciously close to a greeting (hello!)
For this one I'll include both distant and a closeup pics, so hopefully that'll make it easier to see it. Once again it's about a broken tree trunk with a suspicious face. I don't even know how to define that, but someone else pointed at a chess piece.
Okay, enough trees and trunks (and vegetas). I'm going to end this list for now adding another particular favorite of mine, to the point that I use it often as header or background picture. In fact it's in the background of my profile here in Spacehey. BUT for this blog post I'll show the original/unedited version (for a creepier and cooler aesthetic I edited it a bit in the background version).
Once again I'm sure I'm not the only one seeing the facial characteristics clearly visible in that rock in the middle, righ?
Okay, enough for now! I have many more of these 'pareidolias' in my personal archives of photos taken during walks, and I have also a bunch of them taken from food and more varied stuff. So maybe there'll be a second post with more of these pics in a future. So... follow me for more cool pareidolias!
And... hey, whether you can see the weird faces or creatures or whatever in these photos... please, comment to confirm I'm not mad... or to confirm I'm mad as heck!
Pareidolia I: Photos in nature with funny faces and stuff
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Mutant. 25+
In the first one the tree looks like someone doing that titanic pose in the wind
I can’t see much in the rest of them
Haha, that's a funny interpretation for the first one even though you couldn't see much in the others. It's pretty interesting to see how diverse people's reactions are to this kind of photos: some can't see anything, some can see everything (or even more than what I can see) and some can see in some but not in others, etc. Pareidolias are so much fun!
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report
Clanvy, the dream writer
I've seen pareidolias in the photos but I'm not sure they're the same that you found.
The most recognisable for me is the squirrel in the third photo.
In the second photo I can't find the kawaii face, but I found another in the shadow of the wood trunk: it have one eye only.
That's one of the many things I love about pareidolias: so many different interpretations different people can have on the same things! Some of the funniest conversations I had with people in real life was about whatever we see here or there, which often escalates to totally absurd extremes. :D
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report
firestarrr
that final rock funny as hell
dark~deity
i love the last one! it looks like a rockman is peeking from over the hill/cliff lol
King Carrot
That last rock looks so chill and happy with life (*´∀`)♪ I strive to be just like that rock!!!! I will face life with a smile!!
Heck yes, that's the attitude! 🤘
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report
Urania
nice photos! i read the blog incorrectly the first time and was very confused on what faces you saw, but on my second read, i totally understood. Those trees and rocks definitely have faces
Yeah, I wasn't sure about how to word the title properly, so I can see how confusing it can be. Glad to see you clicked to see more and took the time to check the faces. :)
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How are you
by Rachlin Dan; ; Report
Macrotten
These are some real neat photos! Honestly, I had a hard time seeing the faces in most of these but I can so clearly see the little squirrel waving hello!
Yeah, in my experience bothering people about this subject, it looks like a very polarizing thing: many people can see the faces, but many look at me like if I were mad because they can't see anything haha. Glad to see you can see at least one of them. :)
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report
snoodle.doodle
the tree stump photo is so beautiful. it makes me wanna cry
Haha yeah! Hopefully the shape will stay like that for long. It'd be a pity if time changes it as it happened with others already.
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report
Hilda☆
I love the photos! I see faces everywhere soo, find the figures in these pictures was so fun!
So you have the superpower to see pareidolias, too! Plus you have Alucard in your avatar / profile pic. A person with excellent taste for sure. :)
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report
Sninkygle
Love how decrepittly warm this trail is! Reminds me of this trail called allburn in upstate ny where it felt like it could expand for miles but it abruptly ends seemingly at random.
Thanks, nice you liked! I'm not sure which one of the pics you mean in your comparision, but yeah, these unstable and unpredictable shapes in trails and terrain are quite common in nature, unlike the more urban areas. It's like when you eat a tomato directly from the plant, and it may look a bit disformed but a lot tastier than the perfectly-shaped but tasteless ones from the supermarket haha.
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report
Leo
i like these a lot, i definitely felt like i was being watched from behind the stump
Glad to see you liked! And to see I'm not mad because others can see the weird stuff in these pics too haha. The world is a funnier place when you pay attention to such shapes and patterns everywhere. :D
by Unknown Pseudoartist; ; Report