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I thought this was amusing:
"In 1944 the social psychologists Fritz Heider and Mary- Ann Simmel made a simple movie in which geometric figures— circles, squares, triangles—moved in certain systematic ways, designed to tell a tale. When shown this movie, people instinctively describe the figures as if they were specific types of people (bullies, victims, heroes) with goals and desires, and repeat pretty much the same story that the psychologists intended to tell. Further research has found that bounded figures aren't even necessary—one can get much the same effect in movies where the "characters" are not single objects but moving groups, such as swarms of tiny squares."
How does this show that people see design and purpose where there is none? The psychologists had both design and purpose! How do they fail to see this? Seriously, are they just stupid?
"[They] repeat pretty much the same story that the psychologists intended to tell." Gee, what a fucking surprise!
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