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Why We See Faces - Everywhere
Berek Half Hand writes "Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy has a great personal story of a paranormal visitation to his shower. His report explains a lot about human nature and how our brains our wired. Those of you who may be Kate Campbell fans will also immediately think of 'Jesus and Tomatoes' and the famous Nun Bun."
Check out Stone Faces Gazetteer
Some of these, especially the sleeping giants and one particular offshore head, are downright eerie.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
If you found this article interesting, you may want to read Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion by Stewart Guthrie.
In one word, this book is about Anthropomorphism - The ascription of human characteristics to things not human.
has a great explaination of this effect in his book "The Demon Haunted World."
...Parental care of the young is essential for the continuance of the hereditary lines. As soon as the infant can see, it recognizes faces, and we now know that this skill is hardwired in our brains."
He states, "Humans, like other primates...enjoy one another's company.
He continues, "As an inadvertant side effect, the patter-recognition machinery in our brains is so efficient in extracting a face from a clutter of other detail that we sometimes see faces where there are none."