Seeing Sideways - Spotting Patterns vs. Chasing Ghosts (Apophenia): A Guide to Clear Thinking

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“Clarity means letting insight be earned, not assumed.”

Have you ever convinced yourself that “this always happens”—only to realise it might just be a coincidence?

In this episode of Seeing Sideways, I explore how our brains connect the dots—even when there’s no real picture to see. We dig into pattern-seeking and apophenia, the bias that fuels superstition, flawed decisions, and false clarity—and I share tools to help you stay curious, grounded, and resilient in a chaotic world.

Key Takeaways and Tools:

• What Pattern-Seeking & Apophenia Really Are
  My brain is built to find structure—even when none exists. From seeing faces in clouds to believing that “everything always goes wrong,” apophenia makes meaning out of random noise.
  [01:32]
• The Evolutionary Purpose Behind It
  It made sense to spot a predator that wasn’t there. The cost of false positives was low. But in modern life, these mental shortcuts often mislead us more than protect us.
  [03:00]
• The Hidden Costs
  Apophenia can drain my energy, warp my judgment, and feed everything from magical thinking to bad decision-making. I explore how this bias shows up at work and in relationships.
  [04:27]
• The Contrarian Move: Curiosity Before Certainty
  I’ve learned to pause when something “clicks” as a pattern. Just because it feels meaningful doesn’t mean it is. Introducing doubt gives space for clarity.
  [06:09]
• Apply the Rule of Three
  For a pattern to be worth trusting, I now look for three things: repetition, relevance, and reason.
  [06:13]
• Track, Don’t Assume
  If I sense a pattern forming, I don’t just believe it—I check it. A quick note, a tally, or a log helps me distinguish story from signal.
  [06:55]
• Mental Maturity Means Not Needing Every Dot to Connect
  Resilience doesn’t come from finding patterns everywhere. It comes from being okay when they don’t exist.
  [08:03]

Resources & Practices I Shared:

• Pause Before Naming the Pattern
  When I catch myself saying, “this always happens,” I now ask: “Always—or just recently?”
• Apply the Rule of Three
  I run new “patterns” through a simple test:
  • Is it repeating?
  • Is it relevant?
  • Does it stand up to reason?
• Track Instead of Assuming
  I log simple observations—like sleep, mood, or patterns in a colleague’s behavior—to separate fact from feeling.

Thought Exercise I Left You With:

Think of a pattern you’ve recently believed in—maybe something about how people treat you, how projects always unfold, or how luck seems to work.
Now ask yourself:

• What’s the actual evidence?
• Where might I be filling in the blanks with story instead of observation?
• What shifts when I stop assuming and just start watching?

What’s Coming Next:

In the next Seeing Sideways episode, I’ll dive into part two of this theme: the stories we tell ourselves, and how narrative biases shape our decisions, identities, and relationships.

If this episode gave you a fresh way to think about your thoughts, please pass it on to someone else. These mental habits aren’t flaws—they’re how our brains try to cope with complexity. But with awareness, we can turn reaction into reflection, and assumptions into intention. Because the real work? Well, it’s all an inside job.

Host Bio

Jason White Birkevold Liem is a resilience coach, author of Seeing Sideways, and host of It’s an Inside Job. He helps leaders, coaches, and professionals strengthen resilience, improve communication, and build clarity from the inside out. Connect with Jason at www.mindtalk.no or follow him on

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