Pareidolia Is The Phenomenon That Causes Us To Notice Animal Shapes In The Clouds Or The Famous “Man In The Moon,” But Recent Studies Suggest Creative People Are More Likely To Seek These Visual Patterns Than Others

Scientists are continuing to explore the connection between pareidolia and creativity.

A 2020 study that was published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that pareidolia may be a skill that humans evolved in order to distinguish faces and find meaning in the mass of visual information we are presented with every day.

In addition, the human brain can not only detect facial features in objects, but it can also perceive emotions.

Generally, humans see male faces in inanimate objects more often than female faces. Chimpanzees are able to see facial characteristics in objects, too, though not as well as humans do.

Finally, pareidolia can provide insight into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Parkinson’s. Apparently, children with ASD have more difficulty seeing face pareidolia, while those with Parkinson’s may see more.