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October 16, 2020 - CAMP Stories by Rich Barnett

 

Do You See Faces?

Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve seen human faces in inanimate objects. I’m convinced it started when my father moved us to the mountains of western North Carolina and went to work for a company that developed ski resorts, golf courses, and vacation communities. 

Among their projects was a kooky theme park atop Beech Mountain called the Land of Oz that was based on the film The Wizard of Oz. What I liked best about it were the wind-swept beech trees all along the yellow brick road. The theme park’s designer painted creepy faces on them, taking advantage of the trees’ gnarly and slightly menacing shapes. They looked like the talking apple trees in the original movie.  

Those beech trees changed the way I look at things, which is why I often see faces in trees, cars, clouds, and electrical sockets. While I’ve never seen Jesus’s face in a potato chip, I do see a face when I raise the toilet lid in my bathroom. If only it looked more like Donald Trump.…

Scientists label this tendency to see faces “pareidolia.” It was once thought to be a symptom of psychosis or a sign of dementia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries psychiatrists used the concept to investigate people’s personalities and assess their psychological state.

They showed inkblots to their patients and asked them what they saw. Pareidolia today is acknowledged as a normal, human predisposition stemming from our evolutionary need to recognize faces. Some even say it’s a sign of creativity. Perhaps that explains why my neighbor’s house is always grimacing at me over the backyard fence whenever I’m out gardening.

It’s not unusual to see faces in houses, in the patterns formed by windows, doors, porches, and garages. I took a stroll about town to look for some examples. Perhaps there’s something going on in my brain, but I think there’s something fun about looking at house pareidolia, don’t you? 

Rich Barnett is the author of The Discreet Charms of a Bourgeois Beach Town, and Fun with Dick and James. 

‹ October 16, 2020 - CAMP Membership by Glen Pruitt up October 16, 2020 - It's My Life by Michael Thomas Ford ›

Past Issues

Issues Index

  • December 11, 2020 - Issue Index
  • November 13, 2020 - Issue Index
  • October 16, 2020 - Issue Index
    • October 16, 2020 - Cover to Cover with Issuu
    • October 16, 2020 - The Way I See It by David Mariner
    • October 16, 2020 - In Brief
    • October 16, 2020 - CAMP Matters by Murray Archibald
    • October 16, 2020 - CAMP Out by Fay Jacobs
    • October 16, 2020 - Community News
    • October 16, 2020 - Who's That?...That's CAMP! by Anita Broccolino
    • October 16, 2020 - Intentionally Inclusive by Wesley Combs
    • October 16, 2020 - CAMPers Face COVID by Fay Jacobs
    • October 16, 2020 - CAMP Membership by Glen Pruitt
    • October 16, 2020 - CAMP Stories by Rich Barnett
    • October 16, 2020 - It's My Life by Michael Thomas Ford
    • October 16, 2020 - To Your Health by David Mariner
    • October 16, 2020 - To Your Health by Michael Gilles
    • October 16, 2020 - Historical Headliners by Ann Aptaker
    • October 16, 2020 - CAMP Critters
    • October 16, 2020 - Health and Wellness by Marj Shannon
    • October 16, 2020 - Out & About by Eric C. Peterson
    • October 16, 2020 - LGBTQ+ YA Column by Barbara Antlitz
    • October 16, 2020 - Health & Wellness Classes
    • October 16, 2020 - Spotlight on the Arts by Doug Yetter
    • October 16, 2020 - Booked Solid by Terri Schlichenmeyer
    • October 16, 2020 - Straight Talk by David Garrett
    • October 16, 2020 - The Real Dirt by Eric W. Wahl
    • October 16, 2020 - CAMP Shots Gallery
    • October 16, 2020 - We Remember
  • September 25th, 2020 - Issue Index
  • August 28, 2020 - Issue Index
  • August 14, 2020 - Issue Index
  • July 31, 2020 - Issue Index
  • July 17, 2020 Issue Index
  • June 19, 2020 Issue Index
  • May 22, 2020 - Issue Index
  • April 17, 2020 - Issue Index
  • March 6, 2020 - Issue Index
  • February 7, 2020 - Issue Index

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