Why We Love the Chicago Rat Hole

A Chicago sidewalk impression of a rat has become a tourist attraction and a pilgrimage site.

The human impulse to find meaning or some sort of message in an unusual occurrence is a strong, timeless, and often evolutionarily valuable tendency.

The Chicago rat hole calls to mind other modern marvels—instances of crowds seeing patterns or meaning in everyday surroundings.

Even the superstitious Romans made “pilgrimages” to view marvels and relics for amusement’s sake.

By the time of the Roman Empire , there were so many wonders to visit that the professional travel writer Pausanias created a rating system for the sights.