Myths. Conspiracy Theories. Illusory Correlation. Do these things have an evolutionary basis in common? What type of thinking enables conspiracy theorists to correlate ideas that in truth have nothing to do with each other? In his book, The Believing Brain, Michael Shermer refers to these types of thinking as patternicity — finding meaningful patterns in meaningless noise.
In this video project by Christopher Griffin, a senior Graphic Design student at the California College of the Arts (San Francisco), these pattern-seeking ideas are visually illustrated, as if diving head-first into the mind of a true believer.
This project was designed in Adobe After Effects and Maxon Cinema 4D, with assets built in Adobe Illustrator.
Topics addressed: coincidences/synchronicity/numerology • conspiracy theories • critical thinking and skepticism • evolution and/or creationism
Resource type: all videos • student-made videos
Academic discipline: freshman foundation and general education • psychology
Academic level: college and university • secondary
Resource type: all videos • student-made videos
Academic discipline: freshman foundation and general education • psychology
Academic level: college and university • secondary
