dorvann:
A relatively minor one I have mentioned on this board before…
A few years ago there was thread on Chick Tracts and in the post I made in the thread I mentioned I had never actually seen one in person.
A week or two later I was walking out of my local store to put my groceries in my car and noticed a piece of paper on the ground. Yes it was a Chick Tract comic!!!
And keep in mind I live in rural northern New England so it is NOT like there is a lot of “traffic” through these stores.
That’s a classic case of the Baader-Meinhoff effect aka frequency illusion. It’s a phenomenon I’ve often encountered, especially since I’ve been following the Dope. Of course I first heard of that effect here too.
The frequency illusion, also known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, is a cognitive bias where people who notice something new, like a word or object, begin to encounter it frequently. This perception is influenced by cognitive processes such as selective attention, where the brain subconsciously emphasizes new information, and confirmation bias, which reinforces the belief of increased frequency. For example, after hearing a unique piece of music for the first time, you might start noticing it i...