We experience an involuntary fear response when suddenly confronted with an object that vaguely resembles a snake, even though it may be nothing more harmful than a twig. In short, we can be deceived by this marvellous ability. The deception is heightened when emotion is involved. Fear turns ordinary shadows into menacing figures. An unfamiliar voice is briefly mistaken for that of a lover.
Emotion clouds our judgment, and often results in perceived patterns where none exist.
For example, we find ourselves thinking about a friend, just before the person calls. Immediately, the mind imagines a causal link between the two events, ignoring all the occasions when the friend called without our thinking about them, or when we thought about the person and they failed to call. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. An example given by John Welch is that of Alma 36.