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Patterns We Read
Humans are hardwired to see patterns in just about anything
By
Tom Hanratty
July 5, 2019
Back in the day when I was a boot Ensign in the Navy, I volunteered for a special program, and was given a host of psychological tests. One was the famous Rorschach Test, commonly known as the Inkblot test, designed to reveal hidden personality or emotional disorders. Simply, I looked at a series of inkblots and told the psychologist what I thought they represent.
Surprisingly, I passed.
What I found interesting was the way one’s mind seeks to find meaningful patterns in inkblots, clouds, or jelly donuts. When we have an experience, we naturally and unavoidably try to organize what we’re seeing or hearing into a rational system.
At some time in our lives, most of us have laid on our backs and found animals and faces in cloud formations. It was a fun pastime when I was a kid.
The star patterns to ancient people were organized in their minds into constellations that looked like familiar objects. The Big Dipper looks, to nearly everyone, like a Big Dipper, but getting a Bear for Ursa Major and Minor, and a Lion for the constellation Leo, has always been beyond my poor organizing power.
