# An extremely weird coincidence **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328 "2012-01-04T02:22:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/21 "2013-04-17T13:39:19Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > No. Agreed ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/22 "2013-04-17T16:02:19Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > So, I ask the question, Mr. Loach: could it be that coincidences are sometimes the work of souls in another (for lack of better wording) dimension? Leaving aside the fact that souls are as real as ghosts, I just wanted to point out something you might have missed. I said _ex-wife_. My grandfather and her grandfather were buried across from each other for decades before we met. If those two “souls” conspired to bring us together years later and completely destroy my life, fuck them. If so I hope they burn in Hell and are buggered daily by Satan. But since neither exist that isn’t happening. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/23 "2013-04-17T17:31:41Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Leaving aside the fact that souls are as real as ghosts, I just wanted to point out something you might have missed. I said _ex-wife_. My grandfather and her grandfather were buried across from each other for decades before we met. If those two “souls” conspired to bring us together years later and completely destroy my life, fuck them. If so I hope they burn in Hell and are buggered daily by Satan. But since neither exist that isn’t happening. I just love a Hollywood ending. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/24 "2013-04-17T17:46:32Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > What makes you say that? Moonchild, I have a serious and mostly non-snarky answer for you. Background: I was raised very religious - I believed fervently and deeply in ghosts, demons, angels, and in Heave and Hell. I’m a strong atheist now. \*\*Mathematically: \*\* Events that we think are very improbable, and full of meaning because they’re “rare” really aren’t that rare when you think about how many people there are in the world, and how many interactions we all have with each other and with our environments. Therefore, all of those interactions that we think of as “weird” and “too strange to be true” really arent’ - they’re just a necessary product of random chance. **Perceptual Bias:** We remember things that confirm our biases, or that are “interesting” or “peculiar.” I know you’ll swear that you don’t, but you do. Everyone does. I know you also swear that you know that all of your arms and legs belong to you, but we have the ability to confuse your brain so that you forget a limb entirely, or to convince you that you have an extra arm that doesn’t exist, and that you’re manipulating things with it. Our minds are amazing, but not perfect, and we have to maneuver through life essentially through a set of perceptual hacks to be successful. One of those is pattern recognition and a bias towards noticing the peculiar. You may have heard of the lion in the bushes example? Caveman A hears a rustle in the bushes and thinks it’s a lion and runs. Option 1 - it was a lion, he gets away and lives. Option 2 - it was the wind, he still runs away and lives. Caveman B hears a rustle in the bushes and thinks it’s the wind and ignores it. Option 1 - it was the wind, he still lives. Option 2 - it was a lion - he’s dead. We are wired to think things are lions because that is how we best survive the most encounters. Meaningfulness/Magical Thinking: We need life to make sense. We don’t deal well with uncertainty or lack of control (both very large components of modern life) so our minds help us fill daily events with meaning to help us cope. Pennies from Heaven. Karma. Not washing your sports jersey when your team is on a winning streak. It doesn’t mean anything - except that it’s important for you to think that it does, so in a way - it really does. No snark intended. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/25 "2013-04-17T18:47:53Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > I just love a Hollywood ending. I’m hoping for Tarentino. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/26 "2013-04-17T19:50:58Z")
If there are no supernatural factors at play, there will be an average number of coincidences per person. Given the number of people, and even ignoring perceptual bias, there will be people who have far more than the average number of coincidences. Take gambling. Most people will lose a little more than predicted by mathematical expectations for the games. (A little more, because to achieve the expectation, you have to have perfect strategy. Most people don’t. You also have to have an unlimited budget, and again, most people don’t.) But some lucky stiffs will tend to walk out with a wad of cash, and other less lucky stiffs will tend to leave with their pockets emptier. We’ll see extremes in both directions. That’s why anecdotal evidence isn’t very compelling. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/27 "2013-04-18T18:06:58Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Leaving aside the fact that souls are as real as ghosts, I just wanted to point out something you might have missed. I said _ex-wife_. My grandfather and her grandfather were buried across from each other for decades before we met. If those two “souls” conspired to bring us together years later and completely destroy my life, fuck them. If so I hope they burn in Hell and are buggered daily by Satan. But since neither exist that isn’t happening. Neither grandfather exists? Neither souls nor your life? Neither Hell or buggering? Neither Satan nor your ex-wife? I hate these independent films. Too damned confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/28 "2013-04-18T18:13:23Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Neither grandfather exists? Neither souls nor your life? Neither Hell or buggering? Neither Satan nor your ex-wife? I hate these independent films. Too damned confusing. All are correct. You just can’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/29 "2013-04-18T21:32:13Z")
Great story. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/30 "2013-04-19T12:37:12Z")
Here’s my latest, greatest coincidence. Yesterday I had lunch with a co-worker, and he said that evening he was going to watch a donkey basketball game at the local HS. We laughed about it a bit, and moved on to other momentous discussions. Flash forward to 6:30 that evening. I had eaten dinner, was reading on the couch, and decided I’d see what was on TV. My digital antenna picks up maybe 8 channels on a good day (and yesterday wasn’t a good day). The TV happened to be tuned to FOX, the Simpsons were on, and as the TV turned on Bart was involved in a donkey basketball game. I texted my buddy, and he replied with a photo of the donkey bball game he was watching at the moment. Yet more proof of a divine purpose to life! ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/31 "2013-04-19T21:10:21Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Leaving aside the fact that souls are as real as ghosts, I just wanted to point out something you might have missed. I said _ex-wife_. My grandfather and her grandfather were buried across from each other for decades before we met. If those two “souls” conspired to bring us together years later and completely destroy my life, fuck them. If so I hope they burn in Hell and are buggered daily by Satan. But since neither exist that isn’t happening. > [@lost4life](#): > > I just love a Hollywood ending. > [@Loach](#): > > I’m hoping for Tarentino. > [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Neither grandfather exists? Neither souls nor your life? Neither Hell or buggering? Neither Satan nor your ex-wife? I hate these independent films. Too damned confusing. > [@Loach](#): > > All are correct. You just can’t see it. Sounds more like David Lynch than Tarentino. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328/32 "2013-04-20T04:21:49Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Sounds more like David Lynch than Tarentino. I hope not. I’m not a fan. But once Hollywood gets there hands on it there is nothing you can do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-extremely-weird-coincidence/608328.md?page=1)