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OP Hello AWADtalk. I've been receiving AWAD by e-mail for about a year, but never checked out the webpage properly. I wasn't even aware there was a chat forum. It was only once I went hunting through Anu's archives after a word when I spotted the link. I hope you can help me with my problem.
I was reading an interesting article about visual perception in the New York Times when I came across the interesting word: "pareidolia", which you've no doubt already heard of and perhaps discussed. I hadn't heard of it, but a google search threw up a slew of articles about faces on tortillas and faces on Mars and even a face (if you can call it a face) in the smoke of the burning World Trade Center. Anyway, in one of these articles I found yet another word: "apophenia". I tried to get to the bottom of exactly what the difference between the two is, and am finally desperate (or curious?) enough to put it to a forum.
Here are the dictionary definitions of the two words:
Quote:
pareidolia
a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague stimulus which is perceived as clearly being somethingQuote:
apophenia
the spontaneous perception of connections and meaningfulness in unrelated things; seeing patterns where none, in fact, exist
It looks like a case of tomayto-tomahto to me, but I'm hoping someone will be able to refine the distinction.
Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this,
Nathan.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted The messianic tortilla Nathan 03/07/06 02:21 PM Re: The messianic tortilla Buffalo Shrdlu 03/07/06 02:45 PM Re: The messianic tortilla maverick 03/07/06 02:47 PM Re: The messianic tortilla Buffalo Shrdlu 03/07/06 02:48 PM Re: The messianic tortilla maverick 03/07/06 02:51 PM Re: The messianic tortilla Buffalo Shrdlu 03/07/06 03:04 PM Nathan Nathan 03/07/06 02:59 PM Re: Nathan tsuwm 03/07/06 03:05 PM Re: Nathan TEd Remington 03/07/06 03:06 PM Re: Nathan Nathan 03/07/06 03:08 PM Re: Nathan Buffalo Shrdlu 03/07/06 03:25 PM Re: Nathan ullrich 03/07/06 10:02 PM Re: The messianic tortilla of troy 03/07/06 03:00 PM Re: The messianic tortilla inselpeter 03/07/06 03:58 PM Re: The messianic tortilla Father Steve 03/07/06 07:21 PM
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