Human beings often believe randomly occurring patterns in large amounts of data are significant.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Human beings have a tendency to search for recurring patterns. While this is often a useful way of finding evidence, this tendency also leads to beliefs that random patterns are actually significant. Consider the common human habit of seeing shapes of objects in clouds. The shapes of clouds are not significant, but we look for significance in them regardless. Such habits can be problematic when taken too seriously.

Human Beings Often Believe Randomly Occurring Patterns in Large Amounts