Apophenia: The Human Tendency to Find Patterns in Randomness

Donna L Roberts, PhD (Psych Pstuff)
Psych Pstuff
4 min readJan 10, 2024

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Apophenia means finding pattern or meaning where others don’t. Feelings of revelation and ecstasies usually accompany it. It has some negative connotations in psychological terminology when it implies finding meaning or pattern where none exists; and some positive ones when it implies finding something important, useful or beautiful. It thus links creativity and psychosis, genius and madness. — Peter J. Carroll

Photo by Carson Arias on Unsplash

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Donna L Roberts, PhD (Psych Pstuff)
Psych Pstuff

Writer and university professor researching the human condition, generational studies, human and animal rights, and the intersection of art and psychology