Post by rljulian722 on Sept 6, 2015 20:14:47 GMT
Perception holds the key in the world we live in. Each individual can view objects, people, views and events in many different perceptions. The human mind can either enhance awareness or create an imagination that can be viewed as coincidence. Putting together dots that may or may not be true is known as apophenia or patternicity.
Apophenia is the experience of seeing patterns or connection in random or meaningless data. Patternicity is similar to apophenia, however, patternicity is the human mind taking what is visible to them and changing what they are seeing or hearing in real world situation. Apophenia and patternicity can alter a person’s view of a picture, what they see in their surroundings or in an event in that has occurred.
I have often felt my birthday was cursed. From the age of thirteen years old and each year after. I had many events that went on in my life which helped prove my theory. The two biggest events that made me feel my birthday was cursed was when my grandmother died a few days after my thirteenth birthday and when my cousin died the day of my fourteenth birthday. Naturally after having to bad birthdays back to back I stopped wanting to celebrate my birthday because I felt like something bad would happen. Year after year small minor things would go on around my birthday to reinforce my theory. The curse caused allergic reactions, flat tires and break ups with girlfriends. At one point I thought my birthday bad luck had changed. On my twenty first birthday I got arrested for an unpaid speeding tickets. I was not aware I had an unpaid ticket because I asked my girlfriend at the time to go pay the ticket for me because I had to work the day it was due. Once again I began to feel my birthday was cursed because another bad event happened in my life. I was blaming my bad luck on my birthday because I saw a pattern that kept repeating around the time of my birthday. This is one example of how people use apophenia and patterncity in their life.
Another example of apophenia and patternicity is conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theorist can play a role on swaying people’s perception to believe what they are accusing. One of the most resent accusations of a conspiracy theory is the Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Conspiracy theorist believe the United States Government had hand in the alleged shooting. These conspiracy theorist say the Newtown shooting is a hoax set by the government in order to create stricter gun control laws. The evidence that is used to validate the shooting is a hoax is a picture of one of the victims that went to Sandy Hook Elementary. Her name is Emily Parker and she was only six year old. Emily Parker was reported to have been shot multiple times by the shooter and pronounce dead at the scene. The conspiracy theorist argue Emily Parker appears in a photo after the shooting with President Barak Obama, when he visited Newtown after the shooting. The girl in this photo is Emily Parker’s younger sister Madeline. The theorists have picked apart the family picture that shows Emily and Madeline and use this in a side by side comparison with the picture with President Obama. As I looked at the pictures presented as evidence my mind began to wonder if this theory could be true or not. This would not be the first time the government has been linked to a conspiracy theory where patterncity may apply.
Apophenia and patternicity are the reason people believe in superstations, bad luck or even conspiracy theories. Humans believe if anything goes wrong there has to be a reason or someone to blame. The simple fact is it could be a coincidence but this is not a valid reason for majority of people. Society cannot accept things happen that are not in our control and the bad decisions that we make can come back to haunt us at any time.
Apophenia is the experience of seeing patterns or connection in random or meaningless data. Patternicity is similar to apophenia, however, patternicity is the human mind taking what is visible to them and changing what they are seeing or hearing in real world situation. Apophenia and patternicity can alter a person’s view of a picture, what they see in their surroundings or in an event in that has occurred.
I have often felt my birthday was cursed. From the age of thirteen years old and each year after. I had many events that went on in my life which helped prove my theory. The two biggest events that made me feel my birthday was cursed was when my grandmother died a few days after my thirteenth birthday and when my cousin died the day of my fourteenth birthday. Naturally after having to bad birthdays back to back I stopped wanting to celebrate my birthday because I felt like something bad would happen. Year after year small minor things would go on around my birthday to reinforce my theory. The curse caused allergic reactions, flat tires and break ups with girlfriends. At one point I thought my birthday bad luck had changed. On my twenty first birthday I got arrested for an unpaid speeding tickets. I was not aware I had an unpaid ticket because I asked my girlfriend at the time to go pay the ticket for me because I had to work the day it was due. Once again I began to feel my birthday was cursed because another bad event happened in my life. I was blaming my bad luck on my birthday because I saw a pattern that kept repeating around the time of my birthday. This is one example of how people use apophenia and patterncity in their life.
Another example of apophenia and patternicity is conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theorist can play a role on swaying people’s perception to believe what they are accusing. One of the most resent accusations of a conspiracy theory is the Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Conspiracy theorist believe the United States Government had hand in the alleged shooting. These conspiracy theorist say the Newtown shooting is a hoax set by the government in order to create stricter gun control laws. The evidence that is used to validate the shooting is a hoax is a picture of one of the victims that went to Sandy Hook Elementary. Her name is Emily Parker and she was only six year old. Emily Parker was reported to have been shot multiple times by the shooter and pronounce dead at the scene. The conspiracy theorist argue Emily Parker appears in a photo after the shooting with President Barak Obama, when he visited Newtown after the shooting. The girl in this photo is Emily Parker’s younger sister Madeline. The theorists have picked apart the family picture that shows Emily and Madeline and use this in a side by side comparison with the picture with President Obama. As I looked at the pictures presented as evidence my mind began to wonder if this theory could be true or not. This would not be the first time the government has been linked to a conspiracy theory where patterncity may apply.
Apophenia and patternicity are the reason people believe in superstations, bad luck or even conspiracy theories. Humans believe if anything goes wrong there has to be a reason or someone to blame. The simple fact is it could be a coincidence but this is not a valid reason for majority of people. Society cannot accept things happen that are not in our control and the bad decisions that we make can come back to haunt us at any time.