The Neurosphere

     Have you ever looked at the front of a car and seen a face staring back at you? Or seen a cloud that looks just like a bird? This phenomenon is called  pareidolia,  which is the tendency of human brains to interpret a vague stimulus as something familiar. Pareidolia is not solely a visual tendency, however: it is simply classified by an interpretation of any vague stimulus as something meaningful to the observer. Non visual examples of pareidolia include hearing sinister messages in reversed music or interpreting a headache as a brain tumor.      Humans naturally seek to find meaning where meaning is unclear. In fact, this habit is reinforced in schools through activities like literary analysis and interpreting the data recorded after a lab in science class. B ecause of the superfluity of pareidolia and the extensive interpretations it can offer an observer, pareidolia can often times be harmful.     Interpreting vague stimuli can b...

      True crime is having a loud cultural moment right now. From new Netflix documentaries to chart-climbing podcasts, millions of everyday people are consuming this "dark" content. This raises the question--what makes this violent content so compelling to normal, non-violent people?      Psychologists point to several theories on why people might be so entranced by true crime. A key explanation lies in morbid curiosity , an adaptive interest in learning about threats. It is in human nature to anticipate and perceive potential threats--this can be done by watching true crime and learning about documented violence. True crime offers a safe venue where people can observe dangers from a distance.     Another reason true crime hooks people is because of the human desire to solve puzzles. Many true crime documentaries are structured in a way that leaves watchers guessing and theorizing about the cases. This process of making hypotheses and then typica...