Oumuamua, empyreal muumuu
January 24, 2019 12:24 AM   Subscribe

Is our tendency to project attributes of intelligence on cosmic phenomenon a reflection (ha) of our desire for telescopes to function as mirrors? Carl Sagan pondered this, and history is littered with examples. Pereidolia, explained.

Oumuamua, previously and previouslier.

Pareidolia, many previouslies.
posted by St. Oops (3 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
For whatever reason the intended link for "Carl Sagan" got missed. Here it is, chapter 3.
posted by St. Oops at 3:52 AM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


Do humans literally have an instinct to ascribe events in the physical world to acts of other intelligent beings? It seems plausible--it is likely to be adaptive, and would explain a lot about everything from creation myths to modern day conspiracy theory.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 6:56 PM on January 24, 2019


I believe it is properly rendered as: ʻOumuamua. (with a leading apostrophe)
posted by Chrysostom at 7:32 PM on January 24, 2019


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