the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things.
Originally invented to describe schizophrenic thought patterns, but can also be applied to conspiracy theorists, QAnon, etc.
It is related to pareidolia, a type of apophenia involving the perception of images or sounds in random stimuli.
A sad word, I think, in that it reflects our human desire to find order, meaning, and structure to the universe that won’t, or can’t allow it. We are all apoheniacs, imposing our orders, meanings, and structures on the world.
Grad School Vocab 