You see what you want to see

Muse #140 - best fit first pattern matchers we are

I was out on my morning walk when I saw this number plate on a car. First I read it as “VULGAR” and then my brain processed it again as “VAG-LIAR” and then as “VAGU-LIAR”. Then I stopped to look at it more closely to see the exact name on the plate “VAGUILAR” but still, I could not interpret it. Perhaps a name. Spanish maybe.

If I had known Spanish I would have realized that “AGUILAR” was a popular last name. But then again, my pattern matching engine tried to match only the patterns it knows against these alphabets from the English language. I was constrained by lack of knowledge as the interpretation often stops with what you know and nothing but. Then what is the “V” - what would be the most popular Spanish first names starting with “V”?

Source: https://www.pregnology.com/names/Spanish-name-starts-with-V

Time to stop! Enough for one day. Keep the brain humming.