People Who See Faces In Everyday Objects Usually Experience 3 Scientifically Proven Benefits
Chris Lynch | Unsplash Have you ever seen a face in the swirling bark of a tree? Maybe you noticed a smiling character in the foam of your latte. If you have, you're lucky because this unique gift that allows you to see faces in everyday objects comes with scientifically proven benefits
Scientists call this phenomenon pareidolia. Whether you believe that this imagery has meaning and messages might be up for debate, but what's a fact is that having the ability to cognitively perceive the imagery, even if it's the face of an angel in your cornflakes, comes with some pretty awesome benefits.
People who see faces in everyday objects usually experience 3 scientifically proven benefits:
1. They are more creative
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A 2021 study and a year later, a 2022 study both linked the ability to see pareidolias with greater creativity. Research journalist Annie Murphy Paul explained, “creative people are more apt to see pareidolias in the world around them than are less creative people.”
She went on to describe the artistic philosophies of Salvador Dali, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Paul Klee, who all direct creatives to look at ordinary objects and the elements to see what the mind’s eye comes up with. She noted, "creativity isn’t just about thinking, it's about seeing.”
Susan Magsamen, executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at the Pedersen Brain Science Institute, told Johns Hopkins Magazine, "We think pareidolia may enhance focus, mood, creativity, imagination, and agility in problem-solving because you're seeing things in a different way. We're early days in this work, but it's fascinating, and there's so much potential for these glimmers of perception."
2. They have cognitive flexibility
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Cognitive flexibility is the mind’s ability to “multitask” across senses, switching among processes such as learning something new while also going through the motions of a regular task. Researchers have also used the example of switching attention between different talkers in group conversations as a basic form of cognitive flexibility.
A 2024 study explored the connection between creativity and cognitive flexibility, asserting: “Our ability to imagine and create depends heavily on our ability to perceive and model the external world, suggesting that creative individuals see the world differently.”
Researchers found that ambiguous stimuli like seeing a face in the bark of a tree create “divergent perception,” a term developed during the study that refers to “the process by which individuals actively engage with the perceptual affordances provided by ambiguous sensory information, and illustrate how this concept could account for the heightened creativity observed in psychedelic and psychotic states.”
All that is to say, your mind has the uncanny ability to move from thought to thought or task to task without difficulty. It's why people who see pareidolias are as creative as they are, allowing them to easily think outside the box when confronted with a unique problem. It not only makes them great conversationalists but also innovators at work.
3. They easily adapt
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Another interesting benefit to seeing faces in regular objects is adaptability. Professor David Alais, a psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Sydney, told The Guardian, “One of the most highly adapted things we do with our visual system is detect the presence of faces,” he said. “You want to detect faces as quickly as possible, in case they’re friends or foes … but you get a bit of a by-catch, you sometimes catch false faces."
Originally, this adaptability was for defense, but in our modern world, it's more about making quick, efficient decisions and keeping a level head during times of high stress and chaos.
Researchers of the 2024 study linking the ability to recognize faces in inanimate objects with cognitive flexibility also noted that “pareidolia is thought to be an adaptive skill, as it may have helped early hominids to detect threats in complex sensory environments.”
All in all, seeing random faces in places where there are no actual faces is a pretty awesome gift, and it's definitely not something you should hide. Next time you spot a clump of Cheerios in your morning bowl of cereal that looks like the Mona Lisa, smile to yourself and recognize just how spectacular your brain is.
Laura Lomas is a writer with a Master’s degree in English and Creative Writing who focuses on news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
