I am glad I have a name for it now. But there should be an easier word for it. It will make it more accessible to people and so easier for people to identify it and thus more difficult to cheat people with this phenomena. Or is there already an easier word?
But I must say that when Hoagland claims there is "a face" on Mars, we can only dismiss it, when we have better pictures (which we do have now) so the claim can scientifically be debunked. So Hoagland might seem to be "an imposter" now, at the time it was an interesting claim and there were not better pictures then - I didn't see them at the time!
I don't mind when people claim things and spread it by books, as long as people don't make a religion around it. We have had 2000 years (and still have) christianity, because of blind faith and claims without evidence. That doesn't mean that claims should be rideculed by science for lack of evidence. And also, if science can't prove a claim is wrong, that doesn't mean it is right.
But human kind seems to have adopted "faith" as something positive. I think "doubt" is a more positive approach to everything.
Looking at a certain point on the wall of my bathroom I see a face, but not always, even when I check the same spot.
so I guess sometimes we are more susceptible to this phenomena than other times.
Recently I read in the newspaper that there was a study in my country (Netherlands) on people "hearing voices".
They found out that the right part of the brain is more active at the moment when people hear these voices, but "voice data" is processed in the left side of the brain (or the other way around, I can not really remember). It's like listening to yourself and it's like voices come "from God" or "ghosts" etc.
Maybe this also has to do with pareidolia: in this case interpretation of data that comes from the other side of the brain.
But still ...
drdalet
