Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist explains why we see faces in the clouds

Have you ever looked up at the sky and spotted a face in the clouds? Or noticed a grumpy expression in a crumpled sock? If so, you’re not alone, this surprisingly common experience is called pareidolia and scientists are fascinated by it. 

New research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science found that humans are incredibly good at recognising faces. In fact, we’re so good that our brains often find them where none exist, on handbags, in TV static, or even in burnt toast. 

Researchers asked participants to look at everyday objects and random visual “noise” and describe what they saw. 

In one experiment, participants looked at a handbag. Its zips and folds consistently appeared to form a smiling face to many viewers. But when shown random visual noise - essentially meaningless patterns, responses became much more imaginative. 

People reported seeing everything from angels and dragons to demons and religious figures. 

What’s fascinating is that there was nothing actually there, the images were just noise, but the brain filled in the gaps anyway. 

In another experiment, researchers added a subtle vertical symmetry feature to the images which is a key characteristic of human faces. 

That small tweak made a big difference and suddenly, participants were much more likely to report seeing faces. and not just any faces, but often angry ones. 

Across the experiments, patterns started to emerge. Many participants tended to see male faces, and a significant number perceived those faces as angry. 

One theory is that our brains rely on a kind of built-in 'face template,' which may lean toward male features. Interestingly, this bias shows up even in young children, suggesting it might be deeply ingrained. 

As for the anger, evolution may play a role. When faced with uncertainty, it’s safer for the brain to assume a potential threat to prepare you for danger than risk missing it. 

Pareidolia reveals something profound about how we see the world. Our brains don’t just passively receive information, they actively interpret it, often jumping to conclusions based on minimal clues. 

When it comes to faces, the brain seems to follow a simple rule: detect first, analyse later. 

This makes sense when you consider how important face recognition has been throughout human history. for communication, survival, and social connection. 

So next time you spot a face in the clouds or a smile in your morning coffee, relax as it's just brain doing exactly what it evolved to do, finding meaning in the world, even when there’s nothing there at all. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Doctor Michelle Dikinson joins us Now with her science study
of the week.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
This is an.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Interesting one for us today. I think at some point
as children, all with our kids, we've all sort of
laid down on the grass somewhere and look at the
clouds and imagine what we can see in the clouds.
But this is actually a thing.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
That's actually a thing, and I'm going to prove it
to you because this is new research published in the
journal Royal Society Open Science. And I'm going to show
you a photo that is in this study. Francisca, Okay,
and I want you to tell me what you see.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
I see a handbag with a face on it. Yeah,
I see a bag with a face.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
It's on the end. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
So it's actually just a hambag with some zips and
some folds.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
But like many you have seen faces. So this is
what the research is about today. It's about how we
can see faces in all sorts of shapes. I mean,
there's been like Jesus and toast, there's been all sorts
of things that have gone viral, but it is a
very common experience, and it's actually called peridolia, which is
to see faces in objects. Now the hambag one which

(01:17):
if you take a look so Royal Science Open Science
is that open source journeal, you can take a look
at some of these images that I'm going through. It
basically says that humans are very good at recognizing faces,
and our brains often see them where they don't exist,
such as handbags. That wasn't a face on the handbag,
You just saw it. You might have seen it on
like coat hangers and door hooks and things. But what
they did is the research actually asked participants to look

(01:40):
at random visual noise and describe what they saw. And
in one experiment, participants looked at basically just black and
white noise on an image. I'm going to show it
to you, and so there's there are no faces in
that image, but if you look carefully, you might see

(02:00):
something you can can't maybe a scale. Yeah, yeah. And
so people identified in what is basically noise, a black
of white image, a demon like face, so an evil
looking face, and there is no face there, it's just
black and white noise. And one of the ways they
made this more prominent is the researchers put vertical symmetry

(02:24):
into these images, which is actually the critical symmetry is
a characteristic of human faces. And what they found is
our brains actually see faces and all sorts of things,
and they recognize on a built in face template which
tends to lean towards male features and scarier features, and
actually shows up even when we're children, which implies that

(02:49):
it's something that may be ingrained in us or is
intuitive in us, because if children are seeing it without
being taught that there are faces and things, and they
tended to be angry male faces, and so you go, well,
why are we seeing angry male faces everywhere? And the
researchers think it's actually to do with with how to
protect ourselves. So when faced with uncertainty, it's actually safer

(03:10):
for the brain to assume something that you don't know
what it is is a potential threat to protect you
from danger, rather than you not observing something that might
be something and not seeing it's a really basic strange
to danger. It's one percent, And so our brain tends
to follow the simple rule that says detect first, analyze
loader so assumance a face, Assume it's angry, Assume it's male.

(03:32):
Assuman's going to attack you, put up boy your hackles,
and then if it's not bonus, you don't ever run
away from it. And so you know, this whole I
see faces and thing actually is something that is deeply
ingrained in us. And so the next time you spot,
you know, facing the clouds, or you see a coat
hook or a door handle that looks like a happy face.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Just chill.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Let's don't exactly what your brain has evolved to do,
which is see something even if there was nothing there
at all.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Have you seen Jordan Peele's film Nope, No, okay, So
in his clouds there are very nasty aliens and base ships.
And now when I look at clouds mostly we've moved
on from bunny babbitts and faces. I'm always going, oh,
oh that's a little bit Nope. Thank you so much, Michelle,
really appreciate it. We'll talk next week.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.