Pareidolia and Tricks of the Mind

This is an aerial view of a geological feature to the east of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada known as the Badlands Guardian. It clearly resembles a human head possibly wearing some form of traditional head dress.
The feature that resembles ear-buds is a service road leading to a small oil well.

Incidentally, The feature is actually concaved, (it is an erosion valley), however, it  looks convex because our brain instantly recognise a configuration that closely resembles a human face. The pattern matching ability of our brain is converting this random geological feature into a face, makes it look convex and calls upon cultural references to give us the perception it is listening to an iPod.



This picture is a bust of the Mayan King Pacal. Compare this with the image above.


If Erich von Däniken had seen these two images together, he would have had a cow.

Our ability to recognise patterns and to cross reference them to things that are familiar to us is a fundamental function of the brain. All animals that can see also make sense of the world around them by pattern matching.

The brain isn't perfect and often makes mistakes. It often mis-interprets visual cues and gives us false positives. This explains why a child sees monsters and ghosts in their bedroom when the light has been turned out and the moon is casing unfamiliar shadows. The brain goes into overdrive trying to make sense of what it sees... and the brain is excellent at recognising faces in random imagery.



The people in this picture are mostly Catholic and their brains have been fooled into seeing an image of the Virgin Mary in the interference pattern caused by the anti-UV film on this office window in Clearwater Florida.


They have linked the pattern they see in the window to the very strong cultural reference of their belief in the Virgin Mary as depicted in orthodox religious art. 


The connection is so strong that they can not differentiate between reality and optical illusion. To them, this is a real supernatural event, Mary is somehow present and many have come to worship her.


Likewise, Christians can easily recognise a Pareidolia image of Jesus Christ in this dog's butt.

Had this image been manifest in a waterfall or a Butterfly wing, no doubt Christians would be flocking to worship it, However, the cultural significance of a dog's asshole is enough to override the cultural significance of an apparent image of Jesus Christ and they will recognise it for what it is, a trick of the mind.





Cultural references and familiar imagery plays a key role in how our brain matches the image we see to how we interpret that image.

In the image below, almost all adults will immediately see two lovers but to a young child, they will only see dolphins. In fact an adult will need to look carefully just to see the dolphins.



Breaking the Law for God


While shopping today in High Wycombe, I was handed this leaflet:-


By these people:


Their claim is that:  If you suffer from Cancer or indeed any illness, you are invited to sit down in one of their chairs and allow God to heal you... while they pray.

The Cancer Act 1939 states:-

"No person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement containing an offer to treat any person for cancer, or to prescribe any remedy therefor, or to give any advice in connection with the treatment thereof".

If any person contravenes any of the provisions they shall be liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 months.

The Cancer Act of 1939 defines the possible legal defences for persons charged with contravening the Act. The Persons charged must prove they are:-
  • Members of either House of Parliament or of a local authority or of a governing body of a voluntary hospital.
  • Registered medical practitioners;
  • Registered nurses;
  • Registered pharmacists and persons lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business in accordance with section 69 of the Medicines Act 1968
  • Persons undergoing training with a view to becoming registered medical practitioners, registered nurses or registered pharmacists

or that:
  • the said advertisement was published only in a publication of a technical character intended for circulation mainly amongst persons of the classes mentioned in the last preceding paragraph or one of some of those classes.

The Act states:
"it shall be the duty of the council of every county and county borough to institute proceedings under this section".

the expression “advertisement” includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other document, and any announcement made orally or by any means of producing or transmitting sounds".



Clearly this religious group are simply using the desire for a cure for Cancer or any other illness as a marketing tool to promote, evangelise and proselytise their own brand of religion.

They are offering this service in a busy shopping centre less than half a mile from a busy hospital full of ill people. Surely if their intent was to heal the ill, they would be providing this service in the hospital where people suffering from Cancer would be only too pleased to have a same-day cure.

However, they choose to provide this service to healthy Saturday shoppers who's illness seems to be that they have a God shaped hole in their hearts.   

I may need to have a word with the ASA, the local Council and maybe Hayley Stevens. Oh yes... as the Law of the Land is being broken, maybe the police....

Ref:-




Skepticule Extra Podcast #27


SkepExtra-027-20120520

Skepticule Extra shownotes for episode 027 20120520

This is the twenty-seventh episode of Skepticule Extra — otherwise known as the triPPPle Paul podcast.

Paul Baird
Patient and Persistent
http://patientandpersistent.blogspot.com

Paul Thompson ("Sinbad") 
The Skeptical Probe
http://skepticalprobe.blogspot.com/

Paul S. Jenkins
Notes from an Evil Burnee
http://www.evilburnee.co.uk


Many thanks to James Croft for being our guest for this episode


    Send feedback to feedback@skepticule.co.uk, write a review oniTunes or post a comment below. There is also a Skepticule Extra Forum for further discussion of topics covered in the show (plus other topics). Follow the link to try out the forum.
    Skepticule Extra is a production of Willowsoft Communications

    Creative Commons License
    Skepticule Extra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

    Direct download:
    http://traffic.libsyn.com/revup/SkepExtra-027-20120520.mp3

    Halal meat production - Brutal or humane?



    This post is in response: to "The Big Questions". (Series 5 Episode 15) screened on BBC 1 on 29th April 2012 presented by Nicky Campbell.

    The topic being debated was "Should halal and kosher meat be labelled?"

    The argument presented by the pro halal guests was that there is no need to label halal slaughtered meat products because halal slaughter is more humane than the slaughter of a stunned animal.

    Watch this video and decide for yourself.


    The video is extremely graphic. Don't say I didn't warn you.

    The first few seconds shows a standard animal slaughter.
    The rest of the video shows how Muslims insist their animals are slaughtered.



    Fast Food Chains in the UK sell Halal meat without any indication it is Halal.
    • Domino's Pizza:- Most of their Chicken is Halal
    • Pizza Hut: - Some Chicken is Halal
    • KFC:- Some Chicken is Halal (Excludes Halal only branches)
    • Nando's:- A Small amout of Chicken is Halal in all branches (Excludes Halal only branches)
    • SubWays:- Less than 5% Halal - Not Stunned (Excludes Halal only branches)
    • MacDonalds, Burger King and Wimpey:- Do not sell Halal food in the UK

    Supermarkets in the UK are selling Halal meat without any indication it is Halal.
    • Tesco:- All New Zealand Lamb is Halal - 35% of UK Lamb is Halal
    • Waitrose:-All Lamb is Halal -
    • M&S:-All New Zealand Lamb is Halal -
    • Sainsbury:-All New Zealand Lamb is Halal -
    • Asda (Wal-Mart):- Refused to Comment
    • Somerfield:-All New Zealand Lamb is Halal -
    • The Co-op:-All New Zealand Lamb is Halal -
    The Food industry is selling us Halal Slaughtered meat and are not telling us it is Halal or what a Halal Slaughter is.

    Muslims tell us Halal Slaughter is much more humane than the way the west slaughter animals.
    You decide.

    This is done in the name of Religion.

    References:
    Daily Mail - News article:


    Armageddon May 27th - Oh No, Not again!


    Yet another "End of the World" Prophet enters the crazy world of Christian prophecy.

    Harold Camping has hardly faded from memory and yet another Prophet of the End Times has already stepped up to the plate to tell us when we are all going to be destroyed by God. Ronald Weinland from the Church of God has been chosen by God himself to tell the world we are going to be destroyed on MAY 27th 2012.

    This isn't some arbitrary calculation based on a selection of numbers found in the text of the Bible, NO. This is a direct Revelation from God to Ron.

    You See, When God dictated the Book of Revelations to John, John didn't understand what all this Acid-Trip-Imagery actually meant. Luckily for us, God has told Ron what it all means and has tasked Ron with a mission to tell the rest of humanity.

    This does beg the question why God would choose a man with no credibility whatsoever to deliver the most important message ever to be given to the human race.

    The most important message ever to be delivered to the human race is available for free download in PDF or Kindle format from Ron's website at  http://www.the-end.com/Download_Free_Book.asp

    It's difficult to figure out Ron's motives, he's giving his publications away for FREE and there is a complete absence of a 'Donate' button on any of his sites. It couldn't possibly be for publicity because when Ron's... er.. sorry God's prophesy fails to materialise it will turn Ron into a target of ridicule and label him as a False Prophet.

    Ron has given some radio interviews and he sounds sincere, lucid, sober and he doesn't have a southern accent.

    Perhaps, just maybe he genuinely believes he's received instructions from God.


    Here's the sequence of events according to Ron..
    The prophecies revealed in this book explain the demise of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and much of western Europe, which will be followed by man's final world war. This last war will be the result of clashing religions and the governments they sway. Billions will die! The destruction of this time will far exceed the very worst times of all human history.
    As these events unfold, the world will increasingly become aware of the authenticity of the words in this book and realize that Ronald Weinland has been sent by God as His end-time prophet.

    Hmm... not very specific. In fact there is a huge amount of wiggle room here. What will actually happen on May 27th? Could the world financial markets collapse, World War III start and conclude with the destruction of mankind all on a Sunday afternoon or is it going to take a little time to ramp up to full blown Armageddon. Ron says it will ramp up 2 to 3 weeks before the 27th with terrible destruction and Christ will return on the 27th.

    Presumably, when nothing much happens Ron will claim one of the following:

    • The events have been initiated and will become apparent... soon.
    • The events all happened invisibly it the spirit realm.
    • Ron convinced God through intense prayer to give mankind a second chance.
    • He misunderstood some important factor and it will now be in 3 months time.
    • I got it wrong.

    He does make some additional weird statements:-

    • He believes the British are not British, they are all Jewish or descendants of one of the tribes of Israel.
    • The Germans (Bad Guys) are descendants of the Assyrians and along with China and Russia will be the instigators of nuculer (yes nuculer) war.
    • Americans, Canadians and Australians are all descended from the Tribes of Israel and God migrated those Tribes from Israel to their current locations.

    I would suggest that if Ron doesn't understand what happened in the past, he may not be best qualified to inform us about the future.

    But then again.... He could be right.

    I wonder if Ron would consider entering into a legal contract to sign over all of his assets to me on May 28th 2012, after all he won't be needing material possessions by then. I wonder what he values most, his faith in God or his material possessions.

    Ron's End Times Website:-
    http://www.the-end.com

    WCEM Radio Interview with Ron
    http://www.cog-pkg.org/audio/download/interviews/2012-01-11_WCEM_Interview.mp3



    Skepticule Extra Podcast #23





    The Skepticule Extra Podcast #23 is out now.
    SkepExtra-023-20120325
    Skepticule Extra shownotes for episode 023 20120325

    This is the twenty-third episode of Skepticule Extra (or the paultrio podcast).


    Paul Baird
    Patient and Persistent
    http://patientandpersistent.blogspot.com

    Paul Thompson ("Sinbad") 

    The Skeptical Probe
    http://skepticalprobe.blogspot.com/


    Paul S. Jenkins
    Notes from an Evil Burnee
    http://www.evilburnee.co.uk

















        Send feedback to feedback@skepticule.co.uk, write a review oniTunes or post a comment below. There is also a Skepticule Extra Forum for further discussion of topics covered in the show (plus other topics). Follow the link to try out the forum.
        Skepticule Extra is a production of Willowsoft Communications


        Creative Commons License
        Skepticule Extra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.


        Direct download:
        http://traffic.libsyn.com/revup/SkepExtra-023-20120325.mp3

        The Clergy Project



        Teresa MacBain - coming out - American Atheists Conf. 
        [March 26, 2012]



        This is a heart warming and inspiring speech from Pastor Teresa MacBain coming out as an Atheist at the American Atheists Conference in March 2012.

        There are many thousands of clergy who are trapped in a system they no longer believe in. They are forced into a life of dilemma and dissonance, preaching and perpetuating beliefs they know to be false.

        They are trapped because they have no professional skills that will give them an income outside the church.
        They stand to lose their whole social network.
        They will often be rejected and ostracised by their communities and even their own families.

        The Clergy Project is a good cause to be involved in.
        Provide the support infrastructure.. a social network.. and let them know they don't have to live a lie. Show them the escape route.

        Teresa McBain did it and what did she lose.. She lost her bigotry, her hatred and her guilt.

        Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to find just one clergyman who wants out of religion and show them how.


        Links:-
        The Clergy Project
        The Thinking Atheist Podcast (The Clergy Project)

         
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