Thread: New things come in pairs... :/

Okay; I wanted to ask this question for gr8 many a year now
but couldn't find a suitable place to ask it... untill now :-D

Anyhowz, I want to know why it is almost every time that
I learn a new thing about the world, a new word, see a new event
or even discover an old trend around 50% that 1-2 days afterwards
I'll encounter it again?!

This thing has happened to me throughout all my life and I never seem
to be able to pinpoint out the reason for it...

Now... dont go saying that once I've seen this new event I'm becoming
more aware to it and track it once it said/shown/whatever.
Cos it's not how it is!
B4 I hear those new/old words or see the new/old events I never have
seen or heard them before!

Simple very recent example that happened to me:
I recently joined the domaining business so I found an article about plentyoffish.com
somewhere that saying that that dude is making like 10k/day from adsense...
1 day later I see 425Chaotic post to Absum! and mentioning plentioffish.com!!!
Neva heard of thise site b4 and now I'm a double encounter to the new term! it is a pretty good example for the phenomena...


Is there a rip in the space/time continuum or something that is causing this
shyt to happen or w00t?? Cos my idea bank is starting to dry out!!!

p.s. I also noticed that almost never I enounter new terms more then 2
times in a row(1-2 days period) after the 2nd encounter the word is no
where to be mentioned again... :?

plz halp!!!!

Cheers m8tys!!
~tony

It happens tp me all the time. I learn about the Derbyshire flag. Suddenly EVERYBODY does. I see it everywhere. Thats one of many examples. I don't know half of the phenomena that happens to do with it. But it is similar to that 'phone call phenomena', wehere you think of someone and then they phone. Very strange, your not alone.

When you learn something new, and then you don't hear about it again within the next couple of days, do you find it remarkable? Probably not.

If that which you describe experiencing is more than just coincidence combined with the simple fact that the mind thrives on making connections like this, then what sort of mechanism do you posit is behind the whole business?

Oh I didn't get run over by a car today. Wow holy shit! I'm so lucky to not have been hit by a car today!

Imagine doing that every single day of your life, not going to make sense is it.

Oh I learned something new today. Oh look noone has thought or even knows about it!

Its boring serpico. Why so negative? An interesting phenomena needs answering and all you can do is say the opposite to what we asked and use it to dismiss the original question. Hardly scientific is it? We establised the curiosity to explore this phenomena, and you are not even being creative about it. I am offened by your lack of interest serpico, I thought you were better. I would have expected at least this from you:

"Perhaps because you have just learned something new, you are more perceptive about it to your surroundings".

Be positive, not negative. Don't dimiss the unknown by saying it is the figment of the imagination of many people. There are billions of people in the world that expreience wonderful strange and very curious things, and all most skeptical people do is say it is made up by those billions of people. You don't actually go about explaining it. You don't even explain why you say people make it up, as some kind of psychology. I guess you and others will never understand this unique perspective.

The Joshua Tree Principle

from The Non-Designer's Design Book

Many years ago I received a tree identification book for Christmas. I was at my parents' home, and after all the gifts had been opened I decided to go out and identify the trees in the neighborhood. Before I went out, I read through part of the book. The first tree in the book was the Joshua tree because it took only two clues to identify it. Now the Joshua tree is a really weird-looking tree and I looked at that picture and said to myself, "Oh, we don't have that kind of tree in Northern California. That is a weird-looking tree. I would know if I saw that tree, and I've never seen one before." So I took my book and went outside. My parents lived in a cul-de-sac of six homes. Four of those homes had Joshua trees in the front yard. I had lived in that house for thirteen years, and I had never seen a Joshua tree. I took a walk around the block, and there must have been a sale at the nursery when everyone was landscaping their new homes -- at least 80 percent of the homes had Joshua trees in the front yards. And I had never seen one before! Once I was conscious of the tree, once I could name it, I saw it everywhere. Which is exactly my point. Once you can name something, you're conscious of it. You have power over it. You own it. You're in control.

Orginal question.

''Anyhowz, I want to know why it is almost every time that
I learn a new thing about the world, a new word, see a new event
or even discover an old trend around 50% that 1-2 days afterwards
I'll encounter it again?!''


There is no specific answer to this. There is probally a multitude of different answers one can think of or come up with if the events in question were examined enough.

One experiences so many things in a normal day which go unnoticed, they dont jump out at all of a sudden because one is not focusing attention on them. If one were to learn about some of them they would probally come to light more often.

Many things our minds pass off as not needed to bring into light.

All events are connected, we have a great problem but nessesity of making markers and definitve times.
How often do i find something out and it doesnt come to light in some way until a few weeks down the road..

Its different to that Pong. With me with the Derbyshire flag I had never seen it before. Ever, even consciously aware of that fact. Then it shows up and everyone has it.

Love the mystery as the truth is mundane

Aye, same here, I'm 99% sure that I've never seen or heard about
plentyoffish (dot) com before. Same goes for the other things that
happened to me with association to this phenomena... :?
It's like THEY track me, not I...

p.s. glad to see that I'm not alone; and above all - not crazy .. for now

Very interesting phenomena to explore isn't it? And to accept that that phenomena exists, gives us a phenomena to explore and investigate .

Simple, you become aware of things you were previously unaware of as you are now interested in them.

Pregnant women see nothing but pregnant women everywhere..

It's as simple as that, no mystery.

Nothings simple when you live life the hard way ToR. :wink: Some people always wonder why I do things natrually the hard way. But, there is no mystery is there ToR?

Originally Posted by 425 Chaotic Requisition

Nothings simple when you live life the hard way ToR. :wink: Some people always wonder why I do things natrually the hard way. But, there is no mystery is there ToR?

There is mystery in the world, this just isn't one.

Really?

Originally Posted by Theoryofrelativity

Originally Posted by 425 Chaotic Requisition

Nothings simple when you live life the hard way ToR. :wink: Some people always wonder why I do things natrually the hard way. But, there is no mystery is there ToR?

There is mystery in the world, this just isn't one.

Why not?
Perhaps u've figured it all out and dun wanna tell?
(and no, you last post is not a proof for anything) :P

Originally Posted by 425 Chaotic Requisition

Why so negative?

Could you explain to me what at all was negative about the two questions I posed? Really, I'm puzzled that you would interpret them as such.

Chaos do you give reason for action?

Originally Posted by Dlrow

Chaos do you give reason for action?

What does this have to do with anything??

I agree. Please put the question into context so I know what your talking about.

To serpico. What I meant by negative is that you are creating a hypothesis that dismisses what we are seeing as a phenomena, not actually explaining it. I deem that as a negative approach to science, or at least in this matter.

Originally Posted by 425 Chaotic Requisition

I agree. Please put the question into context so I know what your talking about.

To serpico. What I meant by negative is that you are creating a hypothesis that dismisses what we are seeing as a phenomena, not actually explaining it. I deem that as a negative approach to science, or at least in this matter.

You are not discussing this in scientific terms you are in the realm of woo woo and that is NOT science.

This is NOT a phenomena, I explained it already as did another poster, it is very simple to understand.

If you started dating an Asian person, suddenly you'd feel you were surrounded by Asians and see no one else. If you bought a Pit Bull, all dogs you saw would be Pit Bulls.

It's just how 'attention' to details works, there is no mystery.

Reason for deleting the post. You answered this above.

I dont understand your agrument for deleting the post. Please explain in more depth your reasoning - and who can withhold such a power as to judge a post as acceptable or not in relation to the boundries of the philosophy forum please.

I am just wondering as it is a good topic, all points of view show a persons mind in some form and all points of view, questions and answers can be understood one way or another for the greater good.

What were the 2 questions?

Originally Posted by 425 Chaotic Requisition

To serpico. What I meant by negative is that you are creating a hypothesis that dismisses what we are seeing as a phenomena, not actually explaining it. I deem that as a negative approach to science, or at least in this matter.

First, anything that happens is a phenomenon. That's what phenomenon means.

Next, if I had offered a hypothesis for the phenomenon which Hanuka described, that indeed would have been an explanation for the phenomenon. Offering a hypothesis is never a negative approach to science--indeed, it is a basic step in the scientific method.

However, I did not offer an alternative hypothesis to describe the phenomenon at hand. Indeed, Hanuka offered the hypothesis that you ascribe to me:

Originally Posted by Hanuka

Now... dont go saying that once I've seen this new event I'm becoming
more aware to it and track it once it said/shown/whatever.
Cos it's not how it is!

Note that this was the only hypothesis that Hanuka even discussed in his first post. He refuted this hypothesis (although I do not agree with his arguments), but he admitted that he did not have any other hypotheses at the time. Hence my second question, which simply asked what other hypotheses he may have beyond the one obvious one.

Now, had I said what you suggested I should have said:

Originally Posted by 425 Chaotic Requisition

"Perhaps because you have just learned something new, you are more perceptive about it to your surroundings".

then I would have been ignoring what Hanuka had said in his first post, which is completely inappropriate. I was only obeying his wishes in not posting something along those lines.

Ultimately, though, I do believe something along those lines. Hence my first question, whose purpose was purely rhetorical and was meant to bolster the hypothesis that Hanuka dismissed by suggesting an idea that perhaps he had not considered.

Please, be fair to me.

Now for a serious addition to this discussion.

I still maintain that, most of the time, the phenomenon we're discussing is little more than coincidence coupled with the fact that the human brain loves to make connections and draw conclusions. However, sometimes there is more to the story, and it's these instances that deserve greater study.

So, first, this phenomenon is likely to occur when you are learning about something that is new in general, as opposed to something that is new to you. Presumably, new ideas spread faster than old ones, as a new idea is known to fewer people and, hence, is more likely to be novel to the random man on the street, and the random man is more likely to repeat the fact if it is something novel to him. When new ideas reach a certain saturation in the popular consciousness, then there are a great many potential paths for it to reach new individuals, and this coupled with the speed with which it is passed leads to the greater probability that people suddenly start hearing about it from more than one person. I believe something like this describes the specific examples that Hanuka and 425 were discussing. A similar mechanism is likely at hand when something that is old suddenly regains popularity.

Second, this phenomenon is likely to occur when an idea has not yet been realized but is ripe for the plucking. Consider that Newton and Leibniz developed calculus independently and simultaneously, as did Hadamard and de la Vallé-Poussin with regard to proving the Prime Number Theorem. I have read sociological theories that suggest this phenomenon occurs because all of the components of these new ideas are floating around in society, and it's just a matter of someone putting one and one together. That a new idea is developed by more than one person simultaneously is just an indication that the constituent components of the idea had reached some sort of critical density in society--the idea was ready to burst from anybody's head, at least anyone sufficiently knowledgeable.

As a really stupid example of this idea, I was writing a comment online the other day when I decided to use the acronym "BTW". Now, internet speak has been pervading my language and that of my friends more and more, so, for example, we often actually say "BTW". This has naturally been abbreviated verbally to "BT dubs". I was struck by the new-to-me idea that I type this out phonetically, i.e. to write this as "bee tee dubs". Then it hit me--was I the first person to think of this? I quickly googled the phrase and learned that, duh, no, this phrase has already hit the net. I wasn't psychic, and it was more than a mere coincidence--the internet was simply ready for us to start writing "bee tee dubs".

I think you're right Serpicojr. So these tidbits or even paradigms condense like dew on grass, throughout the field.

Another way maybe, even more elusive, is refreshing of novelties. Long term memory has this saving function whereby items nearly lost are recalled and re-examined, just before they're buried completely. Well, that seems so in my mind, personally. If a lot of people share some trivial but curious experience in say, August 1996, they may think "that's odd... well forget about it" yet synchronously they each find it popping to consciousness exactly twelve years later. It reappears because it's grown sufficiently irrelevant. Then in the new light it may be just the thing.

The same thing happened to me years ago while in my English class. We were watching the movie "Apocalypse Now"; at one point one of the supporting characters exclaimed, "Fu**ing A". I heard this and wondered what the A meant. I looked it up online and found out it could mean "affirmative", "awesome", or a variety of other things. The next day, EVERYONE started using the word. Not only the students in that class, but those outside of it that have nothing to do with those people. At first I thought that it could have only been a mass usage of the word that triggered everyone to start using it. So I asked a friend how long he has been using the word for; he told me for many years. I received the same response from other people. So I came to the conclusion that was mentioned before, that certain events pertaining to a verb or noun can trigger a sudden realization of it. Funny enough though, I stopped hearing the word after 2 months. Naturally this infuriated me, that my mind could be intentionally neglecting the existence of certain things. After all, this could completely destroy my objectivity in life. The same thing happened a few more times until it finally stopped a year or two later. So either there are many things that my mind is neglecting to exist currently, or I am aware of everything. I hope that it is the second. That only applies to standard things; my philosophical judgment remains intact.

Originally Posted by Cold Fusion

...stopped hearing the word after 2 months. Naturally this infuriated me, that my mind could be intentionally neglecting...

It's funny how the subconscious most brazenly flaunts dominion over the pettiest of things.


I was wondering about things that occur because they were nearly forgotten. Retro. What's going on there? We see it plainly in the fashion industry, and I think science also revisits old ideas as though on schedule. If human knowledge is a warehouse we methodically roam, some unconscious mechanism also rotates dusty stock to the fore.