apophenia
"Apophenia is seeing connections between unrelated things. On a visual level, it's called paralellia- finding recognizable images in random patterns. It can be seeing the virgin Mary in your macaroni, but it is also a technique that DaVinci used- he would stare at the woodgrain on his floor until images and inspiration emerged. On an action level Apophenia is like a synchronistic event, but a little more loosely defined. French philosopger Guy Debord talked about a technique called derivee or drifting (in English) which was used to explore cityscapes."
"Apophenia is like original sin for superhero fans. We were all guilty of it well before Morrison's run began, but no one ever pointed it out to us quite like this before."
METAMIA is a free database of analogy and metaphor. Anyone can contribute or search. The subject matter can be anything. Science is popular, but poetry is encouraged. The goal is to integrate our fluid muses with the stark literalism of a relational database. Metamia is like a girdle for your muses, a cognitive girdle.