The Omnibrain is a psychology graduate student at an online university. He hopes that the three weeks and $29.95 that he is spending on his Ph.D. will get him a job at a Tier 1 research university. Do online universities have postdocs? Ok...just kidding, he is really a Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology studying high level vision. You know... stuff like scene & object perception.
While not an official contributer to 'Of Two Minds,' Shelley's sidekick is an African Grey parrot named Pepper. His heros are Irene Pepperberg, Alex, and Rachel Carson. He spends his time learning Mandarin and writing the Great American novel.
Oh pareidolia. I mean I understand seeing something that maybe looks like something else in the clouds or one time I accidentally peeled an orange that looked like a penis. But thinking that there is something actually significant and spiritually meaningful in seeing a pattern in randomness is ridiculous. This is my favorite example so far. It was only a matter of time until someone saw something like Jesus or in this case the Virgin Mary in an MRI scan. After all the Hippocampus is named after the sea horse since it vaguely looks like one.
Anyway here's the image - and if you want you can bid on it @ ebay (obviously).
Clicks for larger pic
Evidently you can make anything you want become a physical reality in your brain by just thinking about it a lot:
Latrimore, a 42-year-old wife and mother without insurance, hadn't ever really looked at the results of a 2002 MRI scan of her brain. So she didn't know what her Catholic sister-in-law was talking about a few weeks ago when she said, "Oh my gosh, Pam, you have Mother Mary in your head."But then she looked.
And it did look like Mary, the bent head a dark spot nestled between the two hemispheres of the brain. Lightened areas look like wings of light rising on either side of her.
"I know this is where it sounds crazy," Latrimore said. "But I pray, I'm fighting for my life, so every time I go into these machines I pray."
-via Mind Hacks-
Brain & Behavior
Medicine & Health
Comments
Looks just as much like the Grim Reaper to me.
Posted by: Robert Jase | December 7, 2008 5:58 PM
Well, at first, what looked "best" for a head seemed to have a beard. The bigger image completely lost it for me - I couldn't see anything at all. But going back to the smaller image, what looked like a bearded face is supposed to be the entire hooded head, with the split (I apologize for my lack of technical terms, anatomy is far from a specialty) being the outlines of shoulders.
If that is what they are looking at, then I could see the Grim Reaper, or any number of hooded figures. The Master from late 80's Dr Who. Dr Doom. A Buddhist Monk. I think a scene from Fist of the Northstar comes to mind, but I could also be remembering one of the many Dragonball Z episodes I used to watch (hey, a fight scene that took months to finish - funny - but ultimately, boring).
Now, if this woman is serious, and she thinks she has the not-so-virgin Miriam in her head, perhaps she should see her brain on eBay. She sure isn't using it.
Posted by: Badger3k | December 7, 2008 6:27 PM
It looks like the head and shoulders of any cowled figure with head slightly bowed. So I'm thinking...
...The Emperor Palpatine.
Posted by: Kapitano | December 7, 2008 6:55 PM
I'm calling bullshit. That's not mother Mary. It's E.T.!
Posted by: llewelly | December 7, 2008 8:33 PM
PS. Does anyone know when palm-readers will turn their 'skills' to (f)MRI scans? PS, what's with this horse pucky 'Too many comments have been submitted by you in too short a time' error I got?
Posted by: llewelly | December 7, 2008 8:36 PM
looks like MRIs can now be used as Rorschach tests.
Not as cost-effective, perhaps...
Posted by: Robert Kamper | December 7, 2008 8:41 PM
There is a precident.
http://weird.healthdiaries.com/woman-sees-jesus-in-mri-of-spine.html
Posted by: Steve Blackband | December 8, 2008 1:57 PM
Ahh... Looks like a clitoris to me!
Posted by: Jimmy Hoffa | December 9, 2008 1:34 PM
PS. Does anyone know when palm-readers will turn their 'skills' to (f)MRI scans? PS, what's with this horse pucky 'Too many
Posted by: sohbet siteleri | February 1, 2009 6:44 PM
OMG, cracked head ^_^
Posted by: pest control | February 24, 2009 4:46 AM