Comments on: Apophenia — Filling the Blanks

By: Leon

Leon — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:46:31 +0000

Robert Rankin has a new title out called “Necrophenia”.
Could this then be the same case of a dropped ‘R’ or does it simply mean either dead-mind or dead-slay, like slaying the dead or dimwit? Very interesting.

By: Maeve

Maeve — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:40:39 +0000

Interesting.
If it is a misspelling, could be it will, like aluminum, win the day with a large segment of English speakers.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:15:08 +0000

I haven't seen the word before; I'm just making an assumption. Basis: apo+phrenia has a meaning related to the phenomenon you describe as "Morton's Demon": apo- = away from; phrenos = mind. On the other hand -phenia doesn't have any meaning I know of, and the only possible relation I can find in Liddell-Scott (Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon) is a rare word meaning "slay". Google turns up this, which seems likely, and someone on the discussion page of the Wikipedia article rather reaching for a derivation from φαινω (but that would result in apophania, not apophenia!)

By: Maeve

Maeve — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:48:54 +0000

Richard and Peter,
After spending an hour or so in a university library looking unsuccessfully for apophenia in numerous psychology dictionaries, I’ve concluded that the term must be fairly new.

I did find one print reference to apophenia (so spelled) in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 47, April 2007.

A Google search for “apophenia” nets 164,000 hits; a search for “apophrenia” gets 103 hits and the question “Did you mean apophenia?”

I’d be interested in knowing your authority for the spelling “apophrenia.”

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:01:25 +0000

It’s misspelled (should be apophrenia, as you say, richard, not apophenia), and not a “real” Greek word (attested in ancient texts), but yes: formed on Greek roots, if that’s what you mean.
(apo = away from; phreno- = mind)