Scholarly record

WHAT MAKES SOME CULTURES PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO SEE THINGS THAT OTHERS DO NOT SEE. THE CASE OF THE MUSLIM WORLD

I. Nasalski

Abstract

Human beings evince a natural tendency to perceive patterns like faces, figures or shapes in otherwise random phenomena. This well-known psychological phenomenon called “pareidolia”, “apophenia” or “clustering illusion” (depending on what we refer to) has a convincing evolutionary explanation. As a universal phenomenon it is therefore part of our human nature, although different cultural and/or religious factors can influence or even determine the sensitivity to detect hidden signs and patterns. The present paper deals with such phenomena with regard to Islam and the Muslim culture, since the Muslim World produces the most notable examples of them. Again and again we find there recurrent cases of seeing things that others do not see. Muslims decode cryptic meanings in trademarks and logograms, decipher hidden messages contained in mundane objects, identify Quranic words or phrases in natural occurrences. In the present paper I argue that this is not a coincidence. Islam and the Muslim culture are two particularly vivid instances of interweaving factors leading to pareidolia and apophenia because there are certain religious, cultural and, last but not least, political factors contained in them that contribute to the phenomena. They do not only amplify the individual sensitivity to illusory corellation, but also produce the social readiness to look for them. Identifying these factors can help us to understand both the culture of Islam in particular as well as the way the human mind works in general.

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