# Explanation for weird coincidences keep happing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349 "2011-07-17T14:42:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/41 "2011-07-17T18:23:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > You said the only thing scary about the gamertag was the initials. What made it so scary apart from them? Compliments on your user I.D., it has been my favorite pun for twenty years at least.😃 ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/42 "2011-07-17T18:24:43Z")
> [@David42](#): > > Or you could blame some cookies. > > Isn’t it an amazing coincidence that the “mom” who always discovers these neat tricks (in ads) always lives in Wichita, just where (my computer thinks) my computer is? > > To answer a previous question: For instance, one thing bothering me was a song that seemed too coincidental to not have some connection to me. While not discounting the idea that it could happen (avoiding me rejecting her reasoning) she then reasoned with me until I was forced to admit that the song could apply to millions of people and there is nothing to suggest the songwriter had picked me in some psychic way. > > If you’d like the thread to contain anecdotes of “just weird shit,” I do have some doozies I can’t explain for the life of me. That cookes thing doesn’t work though, as I’ve spotted that one of the advertisements on facebook is for a drink, mounatin dew, so i went to google, put mountain dew into it, went back on facebook, and the advertisement up wasn’t for mountain dew. I refreshed the page a few times and it still wasn’t. I think its just random advertisements, nothing to do with cookies. ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/43 "2011-07-17T18:40:20Z")
> [@David42](#): > > CoolGuy, can you suggest any reason why this is not a prediction of death for anyone else with the initials SL? > > Why does it single you out? Or, conversely, will everyone with the initials SL die on the forecast date? Just those with the initials SL on the gaming forum? Just those on the gaming forum who play that game with the initials SL? Just those who play that game on that forum with the initials SL who click on that I.D.? > > What makes you think it is just you and you alone subject to death on this date? Like i’ve said, the real gamertag wasn’t ‘Death SL’ I was just using that as an example because I don’t want to go into what it actually was, and the reason i’m thinking it singles me out is because I looked at, and noticed it, and when i spotted, thought that it could be something bad. Also, I don’t want to sound mentally disabled (though I probably already do), but I think I have a slight case of solipsism, which, if you don’t know what it is, is where, for one reason or another, whether its because your imagination made the world up, or your the only person god put on the earth, or whatever, you think that your the only person on the earth that’s real, and everyone else is just there. The main two reasons I think this are: 1.) Because of these coincidences that keep happening to me 2.) Because some of the things that the human race has done, like build up from the world been just plains of grass, to haveing all these towns and citys ans roads and buildings, and some of the other stuff that they have done, like build things that almost seem impossible, like aeroplanes, etc, have made me think that the human races almost seems impossible. Please don’t hate me for thinking this, as it is a serious problem which many people think, which you can tell by the fact that there is alot about in on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/44 "2011-07-17T18:52:32Z")
> [@CoolGuy6132891267](#): > > Like i’ve said, the real gamertag wasn’t ‘Death SL’ I was just using that as an example because I don’t want to go into what it actually was, and the reason i’m thinking it singles me out is because I looked at, and noticed it, and when i spotted, thought that it could be something bad. > > Also, I don’t want to sound mentally disabled (though I probably already do), but I think I have a slight case of solipsism, which, if you don’t know what it is, is where, for one reason or another, whether its because your imagination made the world up, or your the only person god put on the earth, or whatever, you think that your the only person on the earth that’s real, and everyone else is just there. > > The main two reasons I think this are: > 1.) Because of these coincidences that keep happening to me > 2.) Because some of the things that the human race has done, like build up from the world been just plains of grass, to haveing all these towns and citys ans roads and buildings, and some of the other stuff that they have done, like build things that almost seem impossible, like aeroplanes, etc, have made me think that the human races almost seems impossible. > > Please don’t hate me for thinking this, as it is a serious problem which many people think, which you can tell by the fact that there is alot about in on the internet. BUMP. What should I do about this? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/45 "2011-07-17T18:53:23Z")
I’m guessing you’re in middle school or high school, right? A lot of what you’re feeling will probably go away as you get more experience with life and gain maturity. Most of what you’ve brought up in this thread barely qualifies as coincidence, and none of it is weird. It doesn’t mean anything. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/46 "2011-07-17T18:56:04Z")
Hi folks - I think we might want to let this thread go quietly into the night. Not junior modding, just offering a friendly suggestion to the regulars. I’m out. ---
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/47 "2011-07-17T19:47:53Z")
> [@CoolGuy6132891267](#): > > Also, I don’t want to sound mentally disabled (though I probably already do), but I think I have a slight case of solipsism, which, if you don’t know what it is, is where, for one reason or another, whether its because your imagination made the world up, or your the only person god put on the earth, or whatever, you think that your the only person on the earth that’s real, and everyone else is just there. I assure you I am real. OTOH, perhaps you are the figment of my imagination. Damn, I hate it when I talk to myself. I am without a doubt, that, given your inability to figure this all out, you need a therapist. ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/48 "2011-07-17T19:48:42Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusions_of_reference) > > Take note of “irrelevant, unrelated or innocuous”. Seeing a date and a couple of letters and leaping to the conclusion that “something bad might happen on that date” is faulty thinking and symptomatic of a mental disorder. Yeah but its not that I put a date an a couple of letters together, its the coincidence that out of like the past 100 gamertags that I have checked over the past few days, the scariest one is the only one that has had a future date on it. ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/49 "2011-07-17T19:50:40Z")
> [@David42](#): > > I assure you I am real. OTOH, perhaps you are the figment of my imagination. > > Damn, I hate it when I talk to myself. > > I am without a doubt, that, given your inability to figure this all out, you need a therapist. There we go, yet another coincidence. The last post before yours was like an hour ago, so I thought that i’d post to bring the thread back up, and look, we both post within like a minute of each other. I’m sorry but don’t you find that a bit of a coincidence. That there isn’t a post on this thread for like an hour, and then we both post like within a minute of each other? ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/50 "2011-07-17T20:08:45Z")
> [@David42](#): > > I assure you I am real. OTOH, perhaps you are the figment of my imagination. > > Damn, I hate it when I talk to myself. > > I am without a doubt, that, given your inability to figure this all out, you need a therapist. Don’t you find this a coincidence in itself, that there wasn’t a post on this thread for like an hour, and then we both posted within like a minute of each other. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/51 "2011-07-17T20:13:35Z")
Not really. Making a post to a thread bumps it to the top of the list, where it’s more likely to be seen and posted to. It’s actually more likely for a thread to have posts clustered close together in time with gaps than it is to have them evenly spaced out. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/52 "2011-07-17T20:15:19Z")
> [@CoolGuy6132891267](#): > > Don’t you find this a coincidence in itself, that there wasn’t a post on this thread for like an hour, and then we both posted within like a minute of each other. Oh my god, dude; put the keyboard down and step slowly away from the computer… ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/53 "2011-07-17T20:18:18Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Not really. Making a post to a thread bumps it to the top of the list, where it’s more likely to be seen and posted to. It’s actually more likely for a thread to have posts clustered close together in time with gaps than it is to have them evenly spaced out. Yeah but when i clicked to reply, the last post was like an hour before, and then when i’d finished writing my post, and clicked to post it, the last post was like a minute before mine, which was his, which means that he must of wrote and posted his while I was writing mine, so we both wrote our posts at like the exact same time, not one after each other when it was brought to the top. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/54 "2011-07-17T20:20:05Z")
> [@CoolGuy6132891267](#): > > I’m sorry but don’t you find that a bit of a coincidence. That there isn’t a post on this thread for like an hour, and then we both post like within a minute of each other? Not one little bit. You are seeing connections that just aren’t there. If a bunch of people post at random times of course some of those posts will occur very closely and some will be spaced apart. ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/55 "2011-07-17T20:20:26Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Oh my god, dude; put the keyboard down and step slowly away from the computer… Read the post I’ve just put, i’d wasn’t because it was brought back to the top when one of us posted, as he wrote and posted his while I was writing mine. And you might not think that its that bad, but, in a thread about coincidences happening to me, yet another coincidence happens. Doesn’t this show how often these coincidences actually do happen. ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/56 "2011-07-17T20:22:03Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Not one little bit. You are seeing connections that just aren’t there. > If a bunch of people post at random times of course some of those posts will occur very closely and some will be spaced apart. Yeah but there wasn’t one post for like an hour before, and then just when I, like an hour later, decide to post something, somone else does aswell. Thats a bit weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/57 "2011-07-17T20:23:15Z")
CoolGuy…just **STOP**. Stop posting in this thread, and stop WORRYING so damned much! Go take a walk, go have a drink, go do something, ANYTHING, but posting in this thread, and worrying that some random guy whom you don’t know, but has “the scariest name I saw out of 20 gamer names on XBOX” is going to do something bad in November. Edited to add: maybe that other something you go do maybe shouldn’t be going to play on your XBOX. ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/58 "2011-07-17T20:31:25Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > CoolGuy…just **STOP**. > > Stop posting in this thread, and stop WORRYING so damned much! Go take a walk, go have a drink, go do something, ANYTHING, but posting in this thread, and worrying that some random guy whom you don’t know, but has “the scariest name I saw out of 20 gamer names on XBOX” is going to do something bad in November. > > Edited to add: maybe that other something you go do maybe shouldn’t be going to play on your XBOX. It was more like 100 gamer names. Also, I’m trying to stop worrying, but when these really weird coincidences keep happening to me, its hard not to. Theres prove of these coincidences in this thread alone with the fact that no-one post in it for like an hour, and then at like the same minute that I decide to post something, someone else does. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/59 "2011-07-17T20:41:35Z")
Simulposts happen ALL THE TIME. They’re not weird at all. People frequently post the same thing at the same time, even. I’ve read all of your posts so far and all I see is someone extremely young and inexperienced freaking out at totally normal things. I haven’t seen anything yet that seemed like a “weird coincidence.” ---
**Author:** ![CoolGuy6132891267](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CoolGuy6132891267](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolGuy6132891267)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349/60 "2011-07-17T20:51:31Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Simulposts happen ALL THE TIME. They’re not weird at all. People frequently post the same thing at the same time, even. > > I’ve read all of your posts so far and all I see is someone extremely young and inexperienced freaking out at totally normal things. I haven’t seen anything yet that seemed like a “weird coincidence.” Ok, but plz read this, and tell me your honest opinion to what you think about how much of a coincidence this is:[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArnzYTHx51eGvv9aK87CaH4hBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20110708025249AArM4xT) (This is a question asked by me). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-weird-coincidences-keep-happing/589349.md?page=4)