Face pareidolia is the phenomenon of seeing faces in inanimate objects. Experts said that the same brain processes happen with pareidolia when the brain interprets and recognize other real human faces.
An example of face pareidolia is when a 45-year-old woman claims on social media of seeing a crucified Jesus Christ in the pith of her clementine. The mother-of-five admits that she felt reassured by the "sweet" discovery during a time when they are busy moving from Northern Ireland.
A Holy Find in the Pith of a Clementine
Jamie Thomas was best friends with her husband before they started dating in 2014, MailOnline reports. They were in a long-distance relationship for four years before Jamie finally decided to move to be with him in 2018.
Mother, 45, who was on verge of big move from Northern Ireland to England claims 'figure of Jesus Christ in the pith of clementine' reassured her she was 'doing the right thing'
— TheSentientRejectRobotArm (@RejectRobotArm) October 20, 2022
via https://t.co/Y7QqGaS9R4 she’s taking the pith https://t.co/HeWzAuCptK
She told the news outlet that her discovery of the outline of a "little man" who seemed to be hanging from a cross in the citrus fruit offered some reassurance during a crazy time for her. Jamie admitted that she had doubts whether her plans of moving from Belfast, Northern Ireland to Catterick, North Yorkshire is right.
She took it as a sign that she is doing the right thing and felt reassured of her decision. Jamie quickly snapped an image of the freshly-peeled fruit and sent it to her friends on Snapchat.
As someone from Northern Ireland, Jamie noted that she is religious growing up in the Church of Ireland. As she gets older, she said she started to get a bit more religious again.
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Who is Likely to Experience Pareidolia?
A 2012 study revealed that people who are more religious or believe in the supernatural are more likely to experience pareidolia. Perhaps that explains Jamie's case of being a religious person herself.
Another theory discussed in The Cut magazine's article is that neurotic people and those with negative moods are more likely to have pareidolia because they are on higher alert for danger and are more likely to spot something that does not exist.
Moreover, a 2021 study shows that schizophrenia patients show more illusory perception than those with bipolar disorder. Illusory responses are answers when observers falsely identified objects that were not on the images.
Women seem to be more prone to this phenomenon which may be linked to their better ability to recognize emotions through deciphering facial expressions, per a 2016 paper.
Use of Pareidolia
Pareidolia was once thought to be a symptom of psychosis, but it is now recognized as a universal human tendency. Evolutionary psychologists argue that pareidolia was advantageous to ancient humans as it helped them survive, per an article in Lenstor Hub.
For example, babies are more likely to be cared for if they experience pareidolia and it was safer for ancestors to assume they see a face even when there is not to protect themselves from predators.
Christopher French, a member of the British Psychological Society, said that a classic example of pareidolia would be a Stone Age man standing, scratching his beard wondering whether the rustling in the bushes is a saber-toothed tiger. He is more likely to survive if he assumes that it is a tiger and runs than end up being its lunch.
RELATED ARTICLE: Face Pareidolia: The Psychology of Seeing Faces in Inanimate Objects
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