Looking Into Pareidolia and Face Recognition

We've celebrated the phenomena of pareidolia for years, so much so that I can spell the word with no problem, which cannot be said for more common words like license. Still, this video is the first time I have ever heard it pronounced. Pareidolia refers to our tendency to see familiar shapes in random objects, like ducks in a cloud formation or the Virgin Mary in a bowl of cereal, and is not limited to faces. But faces are the most common thing we see in random objects because faces are important to us. Seeing a person's facial expression tells us a lot about that person's state of mind and attitude toward us. Recognizing the shape of a leaf is not nearly as important to our survival as recognizing someone's feelings expressed on their face.