intention projection

[teamdaemon]

So I wanted to run this idea by the board. I think that there is a tendency in the human brain to perceive every event and circumstance as being directed or brought about by some form of intelligence with intention. This is probably a reaction to coincidence / synchronicity and increasing novelty.

So is that the case, or was I passed this meme by some subliminal propagandist that I am not aware of? Does anyone know of anyone who has written anything of note about this sort of thing?

[Searcher08]

Does it depend upon the point of view of the experiencer?
For example, if I am an agent in a very complex, self-organizing system, I may experience a multiplicity of interconnected events, actors and patterns with a clearly evolving design (although I cannot easily say what it is..).

If I am "outside" the system, I will see an actor who is being influenced and is behaving in a very predictable way, according to the laws of complexity - I will just see a mandelbrot set doing what it's formula says it should...

[justdrew]

I think it's like the human brains tendency to find "faces" in almost anything. Just something hardwired in by evolution.


X . . . . . . . . . X


. . _______ . .

[monster]

I agree, association of cause and effect seems like a pretty fundamental evolutionary adaption.

[DrVolin]

And yet, so many strongly resist the thought that there might be pattern and intention in the politics that surround them. They have no problem seeing past conspiracies, and in fact expect to find them in history. But they can't bring themselves to think that the patterns they notice in the present are anything more than coincidence.

This idea is often turned on its head by coincidence theorists who argue that conspiracists find comfort in the notion that the world around them is organized and that their destiny is controlled, even if by someone else. In fact, I would say that it is the coincidentists who are looking for comfort and reassurance in the assumption that their rulers are too weak and disorganized to effectively oppress and control them. That they are in fact, in control of their own lives.

[Sweejak]

"Propaganda is not meant to fool the intelligentsia, it is merely meant to provide them an excuse to avoid seeing ugly realities, they'd sooner not believe."
-- Joseph Goebbels

Confirmation bias is the hardest thing to overcome because it amplifies our cause and effect wiring.

[teamdaemon]

Does it depend upon the point of view of the experiencer?
For example, if I am an agent in a very complex, self-organizing system, I may experience a multiplicity of interconnected events, actors and patterns with a clearly evolving design (although I cannot easily say what it is..).

If I am "outside" the system, I will see an actor who is being influenced and is behaving in a very predictable way, according to the laws of complexity - I will just see a mandelbrot set doing what it's formula says it should...

I agree, being outside the system is necessary to see the intention that is actually there. Sometimes knowing that there is intention can make people see it in places where it isn't necessarily there. People on the inside don't know they are being controlled. A lot of the time people will just do and believe what the PTB want them to without any prompting or coercion.