Pareidolia and Apophenia

Pareidolia and apophenia, the two aforementioned words, changed my childhood completely. My dad told me about them when i was 12, and if i should have them, i plan to tell my children at an appropriate age. It came at a time when i was just coming out of the phase of being scared of the dark, ghosts etc. He explained to me that pareidolia and apophenia could be responsible for most supernatural or paranormal occurences. Ever. not a modest claim. But after hearing it I have never been scared of funny noises, nor strange shapes i have seen in the dark. Pareidolia is the seeing or hearing of hidden meanings, when they are not there. Famous examples include the man in the moon, the Turin shroud, or seeing the Madonna in a dog's arse. Apophenia is a natural reflex, caused by evolution. imagine this: Steve the caveman has apophenia, Bob the caveman does not. They are out walking in the woods at night, they both hear a twig snap behind them. Steve shits himself and bolts into the sunset for fear of a sabre tooth tiger. Bob thinks of it as a twig snapping, and gets munched on. Apophenia is a reflex action caused by hearing or seeing slightly inaudible or blurred sights/sounds. your mind invents the worst possible outcome, as a reflex, just in case it is genuinely bad. Ever since when my dad told me, I have been able to watch a scary film and sleep soundly, or hear a shriek outside and accept that i dont know what it is, and dont really care.

Hollow, those sound like important and useful words to be aware of, thanks.

But I am inclined to ask if you believe in or against, or are open to paranormal phenomena as it is most generally referred. Something that if exists could be over compensatingly hindered by these very notions?

Which of course could be good to a degree on the one hand, but if the case, would likely be far more detrimental on the other.

I fear this overcompensation may actually hinder other abilities.

Thanks Decius, i thought they were far too similar to be unrelated. And yes I am sure that many horror films and/or political tactics have been influenced throughout history. This is part of the classic "Mind over Matter" argument.
And Ironwood, I cannot say that I do believe in paranormal events but I am very open to the concept, and although apophenia exists as a reflex which I am trying to block out at the moment, I am sure that at least once unexplained events have been caused by more than Pareidolia.