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.
I always get a kick when people see patterns in noise - especially when it's of the paranoid conspiracy religious type. Pareidolia is an amazing thing!
So onto this peach of a story...
KNIGHTSVILLE, Ind. (WTHI) - Months ago, Rachel Jones was shocked to discover her 4-year-old's baby doll seemed to have a hidden message: Islam is the light.Imagine her surprise when a game for her 8-year-old daughter's Nintendo DS had the same message.
Rachel said she bought the Nintendo game, Baby Pals, as a gift for her 8-year-old daughter after a good report card.
She had no idea the game also contained the hidden message "Islam is the light."
"We were sitting in the kitchen, and she was playing it," said Jones. "All of a sudden she looked at me, and I looked at her and she said, 'Mom, I think my baby said something.' And so I played it back, and it says 'Islam is the light.'"
The message on the doll and in the Nintendo game sound exactly the same.
Not only does this person have a conspiracy thing going she also has the religion thing going! Here's a hint... If you are constantly hearing religious messages coming from you children's toys you might want to reevaluate some things in your life. For example, how much time you spend in a church that hates Islam and how much time you sit reading conspiracy newsletters on the internet.
Honestly, making sense out of random patterns of noise is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. After all, if we didn't do this all the time we would have a very hard time interpreting ambiguous speech sounds and ambiguous visual stimuli in our environment. However, if you interpret many things in a paranoid way you might want to visit a psychotherapist (I also can't believe I'm actually suggesting psychotherapy).
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Comments
Oh, all this time I thought the game was saying "There's a bathroom on the right". Now it all makes sense... *snort*
Jessica Hayes: FAIL.
Posted by: Miguel | January 28, 2009 6:51 PM
Don't you guys know? Islam IS the light :)
Posted by: Shadow Caster | January 28, 2009 9:03 PM
Well.. that's besides the point ;)
Posted by: The Omnibrain | January 28, 2009 10:07 PM
Snort.. Had an old game on my Apple IIgs that was originally Japanese, so it still had an audio clip that played as you started each level. It was a very badly made clip, and I "swear" it sounded like, "greasy chicken". I suppose, if I was a religious nut I might have thought it said... Hell, who the frack knows, since I am not a religious nut, and therefor can't make stupid shit up like they can. lol
Posted by: Kagehi | January 28, 2009 11:01 PM
I'm not a psychologist, but it seems like this lady might have schizophrenia.
Posted by: catgirl | January 29, 2009 12:37 PM
This doll thing made big news. It speaks to the state of mind of many Americans.
Posted by: Lilian Nattel | January 31, 2009 10:02 PM
David, Interesting point. However, I have no problem with celebrity involvement in anything as long as their interest and motive is genuine (Angelina Jolie's genuine involvement with humanitarian efforts and Will.I.Am's involvement in the Obama campaign come to mind). But Tom Hanks being told to read a speech about Abe Lincoln or Naomi Campbell hired to be anti-fur (by PETA) only to turn around and wear it on the catwalk again when the campaign has passed..I don't dig it.
Also, Ajans is not out of Paxil but IS quoting Ginsberg's America--a poem well worth reading:
Posted by: sohbet siteleri | February 1, 2009 6:13 PM
Penny Arcade did a comic about this today: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/2/2/
Posted by: Zombie | February 2, 2009 1:23 PM
I actually like conspiracies so I don't care if the person is a religious nut. There ARE strange things that happen in this world.. make sure you're on the right side.
Posted by: Jongo Fett | April 11, 2009 3:56 PM