We look for patterns in the chaos. I don’t know if any other animals do also. Even if they do, how would we know. Assuming we could, that’s for those who are far smarter than I to figure out.
I’m fond of finding patterns in the texturing on walls and ceilings. I found one, a cartoon face, in my ceiling while doing my crunches. The feature image of this post is of the texturing I’m talking about. Here’s a closer view, specifically of the part that grabbed my pattern-establishing imagination:
For some reason the picture loses that “magic eye” something. When I look up at the ceiling I can’t NOT see the face, but I had to work to see it in the image.
(maybe we should draw it in for the reader. if we can’t see it how in the world are they.)
I bring this phenomenon up because from what I’ve read, we do this “filling in” all the time, in all kinds of areas, not just the visual. And, that being the case, it makes me question what patterns have I found that I cannot “unsee?” That is, what biases are influencing me, possibly in negative ways?
Gives a new twist to the old saying, “the devil is in the details.” There’s not just something more there than meets the eye, but there’s an influence too.
(more patterns to watch out for in the chaos.)
Exactly.
