Jan 03 2009

The Serendipity Effect

Published by at under Serendipity Effect

I have noticed for many years, that when I come into contact with a new concept, word, or fact, that I have seemingly never come across before, it will reappear again one or two times in the following fortnight.  I’ve never had a name for it, but let’s call it the Serendipity Effect.

I used to also observe that when you see a television program the first few times, I would often see the same episode repeated in that small set.  I realized last week this is really a special case of the serendipity effect.

I’m writing this post because it’s happened again.  I was just reading this Slashfood post about brains and eggs a few days ago.  It was memorable, as being none too appetizing, and I was quite sure I’d never come across it before.  Then today, I’m watching Iron Chef, and what does the challenger whip out?  Brains and eggs.  (They were doing a suckling pig battle and they weren’t content with pork chops).

So what is going on with this effect?  Do you hear all kinds of things through your life that go right over your head, and then once you have some understanding you then recognize them?  Or is this just a Poisson Burst, the idea that unlikely events are unlikely to be evenly spaced, and hence tend to cluster?

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