apophenia

noun

ap·​o·​phe·​nia ˌa-pə-ˈfē-nē-ə 

: the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things (such as objects or ideas)

What psychologists call apophenia—the human tendency to see connections and patterns that are not really there—gives rise to conspiracy theories.

—George Johnson

compare pareidolia

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Apophänie, perhaps from Greek apophaínein "to reveal, represent" (from apo- apo- + phaínein "to make visible, cause to appear") + German -ie -ia entry 1 — more at fantasy entry 1

Note: The psychiatric term Apophänie was introduced by the German psychiatrist Klaus Conrad (1905-61) in Die beginnende Schizophrenie (Stuttgart, 1958), p. 46. It is not clear how he interpreted the Greek elements of the word. Ordinarily German ä represents Latin ae, which is in turn represents Greek ai. This would suggest that he had the verb apophaínein in mind. However, if rules of Greek word formation were followed, the present stem apophain- could not serve as the base for noun formation; the expected form would be apophan-, parallel to epiphan- in Late Greek epipháneia "appearance, manifestation, epiphany." Note that an alternative to apophenia as a rendering of German Apophänie is apophany, in effect a normalized reformation of the word.

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for apophenia

• asthenia
• eugenia
• lacinia
• puccinia
• robinia
• vaccinia
• yersinia
• iphigenia
• leucopenia
• leukopenia
• myasthenia
• neurasthenia

Medical Definition

apophenia

noun

ap·​o·​phe·​nia ˌa-pə-ˈfē-nē-ə 

: the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things (such as objects or ideas)

The promise of the Data Age is that the truth really is in there, somewhere. But our age has a curse, too: apophenia, the tendency to see patterns that may or may not exist.

—Daniel Conover, The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina)

compare pareidolia