Pareidolia

幻想性视错觉(Pareidolia)是一种心理现象，主要表现为将模糊、随机的图像赋予实际意义，比如看到像动物的云朵、像中国地图的石头、像人脸的树干纹理等等。简单来说就是会把一些没有生命的物体看成有脸的生物，最典型的就是汽车车头，每次走在路上都会看到无数个各种各样的脸飞驰在马路上，个人比较钟爱的公交车的脸，由于车灯在车头比较靠下的位置，因此看起来一幅欠扁的样子。当然也有很可爱的公交车脸。

Can you see the man in the moon? Learn about pareidolia on this Moment of Science.

Pareidolia is a term from psychology that refers to the tendency in people to perceive a meaningful pattern in a vague(模糊不清的，朦胧的) stimulus(刺激).

Psychologists note that once your brain has assigned a meaningful pattern to something, it holds onto that interpretation(解释). But there’s no face on the moon.

East Indian people see a rabbit on the moon; Samoans say it’s a woman weaving; Chinese people see a monkey pounding(捣碎) rice. Because of the previous assignment of a different meaningful pattern, it’s as hard for a Chinese person to see the face at first as for you to see the monkey.

Any time you see a person in a wallpaper(壁纸)stain(污点，污迹), a ship in the clouds, or a face on Mars, you’re experiencing pareidolia.