We see what we want to see

Making patterns when there is no such meaning

Credit: Pixabay.com - Abstract fractal

Quick. What do you see in the above picture? Height perhaps? Things to climb on? Depth to fall from? Eclectic-colored trees? Claws at the bottom? Roots? Those are all things that I see as my brain wants to interpret it, based on the knowledge of the patterns that I have been trained to recognize.

I saw an amazing picture today. This 3D rendering of a eukaryotic cellular life is modeled using data from X-ray, nuclear magnetic resonance, and cryo-electron microscopy. This photo is part of a series that appears in the "Images from Science 3" open-to-public exhibition visiting Johns Hopkins Jan. 20 - March 20.

Credit: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/image-of-the-month-the-jewelry-box-of-life

What do you see in this picture? I will space my answers way below so that I don’t bias your interpretation.

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I see an aerial map from the sky. Highways, Roads, suburbs, town centers, malls, schools, houses, parks, etc., etc. Now again that my brain’s interpretation. Would I have interpreted differently if I have never seen satellite imagery or Google maps imagery in my life? Maybe, perhaps! But, that is what I have been conditioned to see, so I see it.

So what did you see? What did you interpret? And, why do you think that is?