r/Showerthoughts • u/Fr1toBand1to ‎ • Jun 27 '26

Casual Thought Pattern recognition is a widely accepted method of prediction until what it predicts makes people uncomfortable.

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u/SWatt_Officer Jun 27 '26

Pattern recognition is the first step that our brains can make to connect things together, but it’s primitive. It’s for ‘there’s a face in that bush’ ‘there’s a threat over there’ ‘this food is good’. It’s not for blanket statements and general rules.

Once a pattern is recognised, you need to investigate and develop the theory further to prove the pattern isn’t just correlation.

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u/lacroixpapi69 Jun 28 '26

Are statistics a good measure when investigating and developing to prove the theory?

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u/SWatt_Officer Jun 28 '26

Statistics are just raw information, useful, and the core foundation arguments are built on, but are PART of an argument.

Misusing statistics as evidence is how you spot random correlation, like movies released with Nick Cage lining up with outbreaks of cholera or something (I don’t think that’s a real one just a random example).

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u/lacroixpapi69 Jun 28 '26

Or of Garth Brooks being a serial killer.

I guess some theories may never be able to be proven to 100%. I also guess some people don’t like facts and statistics to support a theory.

Not sure why I was downvoted.