(July 25, 2015 at 9:21 am)robvalue Wrote: Humans are natural pattern spotters.
This
We evolved to be great at spotting patterns, as it is crucial to our survival.
As we evolved it was safer to assume the positive, even if it turned out to be false. For example: there is a noise in the bushes. It's safer to assume that it is a predator and escape (survive regardless of whether we were correct in our assumption or not) than assume it is just the wind and stay, in which case we only survive if we were right. This leads to enforcing this trait of recognizing patterns even if there are none 'just in case'. As a result, people see faces on trees, toasts, electric outlets and other such things, or see shapes in clouds. This is the trait that Pascal's Wager exploits: better safe than sorry. But if you so to think about it, you'll see how silly it is.
We are not that dependent on this ability anymore, and it is unreasonable to follow it. Instead it's better to use logic and critical thinking.
TL;DR - Aliens. Duh
