Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with coincidence

Are these seismic events related?

Lord_Pall — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:54:23 -0800

Are all of these seismic events related? So there have been a bunch of big quakes on the west side of the Pacific Plate (Vanatu, Solomons, etc).

These seem to be continuing, but now there's a cluster of quakes on the North side along Alaska.

More interestingly, there's another swarm of quakes in Greece. I was looking at the RSOE map and noticed that Greece seems to be somewhat on the other side of the earth (not a straight line, but for eyeball purposes, close enough)

Are these seismic waves propagating? Does a big ole shake on one side of the earth sometimes bounce waves to the other?

And on more specific Pacific Plate things, is the plate rotating or simply sliding upwards?

Is it solid? Do those West-Side quakes change the overall shape of the plate which in turn caused the quakes in Alaska?

Or is this all a very inexact science where things just happens?

Help Me Find Synchronicities

dmaterialized — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:53:13 -0800

Looking for examples of synchronicity, or evidence of "collective unconscious"-- like world records that, once broken, are broken by many others, or two musicians coming up with similar tunes without knowing each other, etc. Has there ever been historical evidence of synchronized events?

Exciting food combinations?

Rinku — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:57:51 -0800

Grapes in milk... now what? Recently, someone recommended that I try putting grapes in milk and drinking / eating it. It was more delicious than I expected. Are there any other unusual / unexpectedly delicious food combinations that might make our super boring dining hall more of an adventure? A delicious adventure?

Coincidence? I think yes. But what to call it, and does it warrant extra cake?

roombythelake — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:05:51 -0800

Birthday/math/language filter: I know about the Beddian year, which is when your age matches the year you were born, discussed previously here. But I’m wondering about the more accessible feat (at least for those of us born late in the last century) that happens when your age matches the day of the month on which you were born.... Someone’s turning 28 on the 28th, and I’d like to point out the serendipity. Everyone I know seems to have already had this happen to them by the time I know them, so I've never had cause to celebrate this before (I hang out with early-month birthdayers, apparently). Obviously the occurrence is much more notable for those born in the second half of the month. Myself, I was born on the first of a month, and so, when I was turning one year old, I had other things on my mind than numerical alignments.
My question is, for those old enough to notice this coincidence on the year it occurred, did you celebrate extra when this happened to you? Or am I stretching it to think this is somehow extra cool, and a bigger deal than a regular birthday? Since it only happens once, I want to point it out while I can, and your anecdotes, and particularly your vote as to the preferred name for this phenomenon, are appreciated. In the post I link to above, Mefites leaned toward golden birthday over champagne birthday (in a narrow yet decisive 3-1 victory), but the New Yorker's approval fell the other way. So naturally I'm torn between allegiances... Thanks!

Why is my name so often confused for THAT name?

jchgf — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:05:40 -0800

My name is Christian. It seems that whenever someone mistake my name for another, they mistake it for François at least 80% of the time. Why? My name has been occasionnally mistaken for François in particular by different people in different environments for many years. There are no other obvious François in my entourage, and Christian and François seem phonetically unrelated, although they are both two syllables (I am a French-Canadian). This week, a new colleague called me François, prompting me to bring this topic to AskMe. Do you have any theory that would explain why my name is so often confused with François in particular?

Quelle Coincidence?

indiebass — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:03:01 -0800

I am trying to remember the title of a French movie I saw in early 1999, although it may date from earlier than that. I don't remember the content of the main part of the movie at all other than that it had to do with amazing coincidences (or AN amazing coincidence, something like that)... ...but it opened with a series of vignettes that were not directly related to the storyline, other than that they also had to do with coincidences/odd stories. One of the vignettes featured a scuba diver who is sucked up from the sea by a machine pumping water for firefighters, then squirted out with the water by a firefighting plane, over a forest.

Stumbing upon people online without looking for them

cloudscratcher — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 17:05:28 -0800

Remarkable human connections made possible through the web. Blogs, Flickr, etc. Not "love connections," but rather people who might have recognized an old relative in a photo, or a family member they never knew existed. Stumbling across each other, not searching. (more) In particular, I recall a blog in which someone described some horrific WWII event in which someone gave up his life so that the blogger's relative might live. In the comments, a relative of the sacrificed man recognized the story and a remarkable connection was made.

(I am probably butchering this in recollection: sorry)

Anyone know what/where that was? Here's an ok example, from Liz Lawley's blog, about relatives in Brazil who found her by accident, searching their own names.

But I'm more interested in the kinds of things I've seen from time to time on Flickr -- "oh my god, that's my stepdad on that beach, the guy with the hat. We kicked him out of the house, and never saw him again, 10 years ago." I've seen this at least twice.

If anyone can point me to any such stories/records/events, I'd appreciate it -- it's for a lecture I'm preparing.

Remo Williams: What does it mean?

notcostello — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 20:09:32 -0800

A few years ago I got a yen to rent "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins". It was the middle of the day and the middle of the week, and the Blockbuster was empty. I was at the cash paying for the movie when someone else walked in and asked the cashier: "Do you guys have Remo Williams?" What are the chances of such a coincidence happening? How many times a week is Remo Williams rented in a week in Quebec (8 million people)? In the Montreal Metropolitan area (2-3 million)? In a predominantly French area (about 28,000 English speaking anywhere near the store in particlular).

Now, take it down to a particular store where two people, within a few minutes of each other, take action to rent a minor cult classic. And this is not a case of someone looking for anything that might catch their fancy. At the exact moment I was renting a movie I specifically wanted to rent, someone else came in and expressly asked for the same movie not a second after I left the store, or before I got to the cash, but within the 2-3 minute window where I would be aware of the question.

What are the chances of this happening?

Or is it more than coincidence?

Is there any meaning (no matter how ridiculous the question might sound) to the event?

Or was it just an event of no meaning but a hugely improbable coincidence?

Name That Phenomenon

etc. — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 10:35:46 -0800

Isn't there a name for that phenomenon wherein, once you start paying attention to something, you see it everywhere? You know, like when you buy a 1980 Toyota Celica, for example, and all of the sudden you see one on every block.

Noticing New Words

zelphi — Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:43:39 -0800

Language/Listening/WordFilter [mi] Everytime I learn a new word, I start hearing it on TV and reading it (even though I never heard it before on a regular basis). People I've talked to say they experience the same thing. Their only explanation is that I'm paying more attention to that particular word because I just learned it and it isn't just some crazy coincidence. The problem is that I'm the kind of guy who has to look up every word I hear and don't know. If I'm to believe the explanation for this phenomenon, I'm inadvertantly ignoring words I don't know, which is something I have a hard time believing. What's really going on?

Coincidences

Jaybo — Sat, 24 Jul 2004 05:38:38 -0800

This is a bit of a ChatFilter question but I'm curious about any coincidences you (or people you know) have experienced - the more unbelievable, the better. I'm also curious about any theories you may have about "coincidence". I know the dictionary definition but what is coincidence really? Do you think it's something mystical or something that's inevitable with the number of events that happen every second of every day? Here's a hypothetical but typical example: "I bumped into a friend I hadn't seen for years while travelling to New York. Not only did we find meet in a city of millions, but it turns out we both married women named Sara. Can you believe it?"