Many people will read this sign and feel, strongly, that it says “Goth Clowns Only.” Perhaps they will find that this makes a certain kind of sense, and they will immediately form a convincing mental image to go with it. They may experience a funny feeling of disconnect between what the sign actually says – “Cloth Gowns” – and what their brains insisted on seeing. This isn’t necessarily dyslexia, although it might happen to people who are dyslexic. Generally, it’s likely to be a type of “brain autocorrect.” “Cloth Gowns Only” is a somewhat rare sentence, and it presents a VERY tempting Spoonerism, and the image doesn’t present any other context: perhaps it was a typo! maybe we should fix that! wait, what?
Reading is the process of looking at abstract patterns and getting meaning from them. Brains usually like to identify patterns and skip ahead. They frequently autocorrect to make sense of the world without slowing down to process every individual piece of data. Signs like the one above can force a slowdown, and introduce you to your brain, as if it is a stranger. This can feel kind of funny, like a Joke.
For example, your nose is permanently in your field of vision, and suddenly you might notice it and be able to see it, despite your brain’s insistence on constantly editing it out.
The squares marked “A” and “B” are actually the same color. Here, I’ve copied and pasted the squares – they’re on the right.
Seriously. Same color. it’s easier to tell when they’re completely separated from the context of the image:
But in the context of the image, our brains usually insist that B is lighter, because in the context that we understand, it is a white square in shadow. So much of what our brains declare to be ABSOLUTELY FIXED TRUTH is simply due to context and expectations. Expectations can actually change what people see. Thus, of course, the blue/gold dress. And this meme:
I cdn’uolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg: the phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan mnid… it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.
Not everyone can read that mess, but some can understand it because of pattern recognition. Words, to people who read them, aren’t just letters in the right order, they’re also shapes and context. GOTH CLOWNS ONLY has a perfectly reasonable shape/context, so brains may say: this makes as much sense as anything else.
Sometimes you can deliberately irritate your brain by toying with its desire to make sense of everything, and its desire to “fix” the stuff that doesn’t make sense, without consulting you. For example, if you can, try the Stroop test – reading the names of the following colors aloud. Don’t read the words, just the colors. The first line should, of course, read “Green, Red, Blue.”
As you read this, you may find that you have a sort of “automatic reading” app in your brain, which insists that the letters somehow take precedence over the colors. (Obviously, this isn’t universal – for one thing, this image assumes that you automatically read English, and that you can see, and that you can see colors.)
So, in the case of GOTH CLOWNS: some of it will be familiarity and context. If you’re more used to seeing those words, your brain might helpfully suggest it as an autocomplete. (If you are more used to seeing CLOTH GOWNS, you might see that arrangement first.) If there was more ‘goth’ type stuff surrounding the post on your dash, that might influence you. If you’re used to skim-reading, that might influence you.
If your family are gnome-clans obsessed with Spoonerisms, that will definitely influence you.
