Apophenia is the term used for the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. We tend to use it when people make leaps in logic that we don’t believe/accept/understand.

The term Apophenia was coined by German neurologist Klaus Conrad in the early 1950s.  Klaus Conrad joined the Nazi Party in 1940, and I’m not entirely trusting of the humanity of Nazi neurology.

No one disputes the strength of German science, the Manhattan Project was developed as a response to the strength of that science. However, those scientists were not operating with humanitarian motives. They were(are) separatist.

Scientists are human beings, and as such are subject to the same cognitive bias as anyone else. To the unaware, the white lab coats give an aura of being above such emotional mediocrity. As if being a scientist negates being human.

While good scientists strive to separate their personal feelings from their work, the mindset of the scientist forms the basis of their hypotheses and conjectures. Which in turn will create the path of their research.

A scientist seeking a way to separate will find the evidence to support compartmentalization, and the scientist looking for a way to connect will find evidence to support self similarity.

It’s no secret that western science still has a dark infatuation with WWII German scientific methods, however it is reasonable to consider that Klaus Conrad’s Nazi mindset may have affected his opinions about connectedness.

I include this definition of Apophenia for completeness, but I find the term to be a hinderance to the proper development of human instincts.

Humans see connections.

That’s how we bond around our shared experiences of the world. Our past, present and eventual futures are part of a fine tapestry and to ignore the bindings of these threads is unhealthy.

Just because YOU may not see the connecting thread over THERE doesn’t mean the connecting thread doesn’t exist over HERE.

It’s simply not realized over THERE.

Humans are the only animals that train their young to ignore natural instincts in favor of metrics.

Recognizing patterns and connectivity is part of my work skill set. However, in my self evaluation I had to be sure that I considered all possibilities.

How many coincidences does it take to make a pattern?

When does apophenia become epiphany?