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Author: John Pagan Taken from: Ezinearticles.com - What Are The Odds Beyond Coincidence A man speeds along a winding road in his red Dodge Viper, as he turns a curve, another car intersects his path and he skids into the car. Luckily, the damage is minimal and neither driver is hurt. That's about when the man notices the car he damaged is a red Dodge Viper like his. He shakes his head and tells the other driver he should have expected such an odd coincidence with a name like John Chance. The other driver appears surprised and tells him his name is also John Chance. Although the details of the story above have been updated, the incident is an actual event. What are the odds? A skeptical approach would be to argue that the answer is just that, the probability and mathematical naivety of assuming a coincidence is anything unique. According to the hypothesis that with billions of people on the planet, strange coincidences are likely to occur frequently, coincidences are thus commonplace events occurring more often than we think. Because psychologists believe that people have an uncanny ability of finding meaningful connections between things that may not have any, it therefore increases the likelihood most people will experience meaningful coincidences. Because of the billions of people and the number of meaningful coincidences is millions of billions, it is inevitable that people will experience bizarre coincidences every day. This is the argument used to explain the phenomenon thousands have experienced globally, of constantly seeing the number 1111, which is explained in detail in my 11:11 Coincidence or Destiny? article. Those that believe the eleven-eleven phenomena is more than coincidence, explain that when we are looking for proof of things intangible or the fingerprints of greater intelligence, we can decipher it via patterns. If out of the chaos appears a pattern, there is an intelligence behind it. Thus, the chance of facilitatory events occurring randomly is well against the odds. Yet, what if we were to use the skeptical approach above, of assessing unusual coincidences by calculating probabilities, and the calculation reveals coincidences at a level higher than chance is occurring, with no fraud or error to attribute to it, what are we to make of it then? I was in my living room about to adjust the wooden blinds when I noticed sunlight was passing through a separate smaller square window in such a way it created three odd-looking bright spots on the carpet. It captured my attention because it appeared to be a kind of smiley face with two off-shaped spots (the "eyes") above a slightly wide curving shape of light beneath it (a wide "smile"). I was aware the sunlight was passing through the artificial tree near the entertainment system, but couldn't figure out how only three spots of sunlight formed that way on the floor. Well, I had writing to do, so I left the room mumbling, "Weird." The following day while checking my email I was stunned to read a certain Daily Herald link and immediately clicked it to see the bold black headline; Could Elgin man's death be work of 'Smiley Face' killer? I immediately recalled the "smiley face" I saw the previous day. If the realization that I happen to live very near Elgin wasn't creepy enough, I stumbled across another article almost a month later via AOL news: Do 'Smiley Face Killers' Hunt Students? This article has four photos of the smiley faces painted by the psycho(s?) and three of them are eerily similar to the "face" I saw on the carpet. The smiling face has not reappeared since, by the way. The calculation of probabilities offers little assistance in individual cases like this. Moreover, there are cases in which there isn't a chance expectation on which a calculation can be based and the probability is infinitesimally small. For instance, if one in a billion suicides were by two strangers of the same name, of the same occupation, and under the same circumstances, we must still consider the date at which the occurrence is likely to, or has, occurred. How is that taken into calculation? It could occur literally at anytime. The improbability of the coincidence therefore has no effect against its occurring. Is there a good example of this level of "coincidence"? On March 31, 1930, Frederick Henry Butler and David Henry Butler, both shot themselves with pistols by the side of their cars. They were both butchers and unrelated strangers. The London newspapers reported the men were found shot in separate areas; one near London, the other in Nottingham shire. I have a black cap with amber stitching on it that reads "11:11 it's no coincidence." I was wearing it while eating at a certain crowded fast food restaurant with my wife and daughter. About an hour later, we were behind several cars at a traffic light about to leave the parking lot area when I noticed (and admired) a shiny black Mercedes waiting to enter the line of traffic from the right. Because I didn't want my wife to think I was admiring the very attractive woman behind the wheel, I feigned diverting my attention elsewhere as the Mercedes entered the traffic directly in front of us. A moment later, my wife says, "Look at that." and points to the license plate of the Mercedes. It's then I see 1111 (and two letters). Perhaps you have had the experience of thinking of someone and that person suddenly calls you on the phone, or as you read a certain word from a book, it is simultaneously said on television at that exact moment. Or how about when you are sitting in your car at the mall parking lot and at the moment you decide to back out of the parking space, that's when someone behind you decides to do the same or a car is passing behind at that moment. Yet, before the decision to move was made, no moving cars were around. I cannot tell you how many times these coincidences have happened to us. I could possibly write a book on the theories alone as to why these bizarre coincidences happen. Many of the famous individuals of The Secret DVD say there is no such thing as "coincidence" and that we are ultimately responsible for all the things that occur to us in our life. The Secret is the Law of Attraction, which seems to be validated by the holographic universe paradigm made popular by the late Michael Talbot's book The Holographic Universe. Could these examples provide a possible connection to those moments of odd synchronicity or bizarre serendipity? The answer may forever remain debatable and uncertain. johnpagan@furyinthegarden.com |