Perhaps it was a function of the pace of our recent vacation;  perhaps I was just randomly delirious — but I kept seeing faces in unexpected places.  I’ve noticed before that, particularly when I travel, I will suddenly recognize a face in a crowd, then realize it is just someone who looks like someone I know, but not really.  I guess my pesky brain tries so hard to put the familiar back into the unfamiliar when I am out of my comfort zone.  Those, however, are actually faces.

Turns out I am making stuff up all the time.  According to an article from Learnhub, “Sensor vs. Eye – What’s the Difference?, when we think about “seeing” something, we are actually talking about the “eye-brain” system that adds lots of post-processing to what actually comes in the eye.

“Outside that very narrow range, our brain fills in a lot of the details that we think we see from moment to moment, but is actually not being “seen” in the same sense as what’s in the center of view. (Of course, this comment will inevitably beget the philosophical discussion: what does it mean to “see,” exactly?)”

The article goes on to make interesting comparisons to what a camera “sees” and how a photographic image differs from the picture we take in our brain.  (Wow!  This is almost as interesting as the Quantum Physics Theory of Missing Socks!)

Apparently I have a busy post-processor, because it fills in lots of details.  If only my memory was as detail-oriented.  The good news is that I saw more smiley faces in inanimate objects than I saw frowns.  I think that is a good sign.