Great example of Pareidolia

This photo taken from paranormal.about.com is probably the single best example of Pareidolia in existence today. The image taken in the early 1900s immediately draws the viewers eye to the image of a bearded mans face, resembling that of Jesus. It is only upon studying the photo in more detail, we realise that in fact we have merely been fooled into seeing the oversized face, as a result of the brains ability to pick out faces from other images, such as clouds, foliage, etc.

This is a process known as Pareidolia. The fact that we initially see a giant face in the photo, even though it doesn’t fit the rest of the image, is probably not a coincidence. We have more neurons dedicated to promptly identifying faces than the ones that recognise Victorian kids sitting on their dad’s lap. That’s why pareidolia happens so often with faces. You don’t usually see Victorian kids in the clouds.