You may know what I’m talking about, as you’ve experienced it before. That strange phenomenon that’s only subtly noticeable, but you can’t quite figure out why it’s happening. Two gentleman named the event of seeing one thing, consciously accepting it, and then continuing to see that same thing over and over again in a short period of time. It’s called Baader-Meinhoff, and it blows your mind in the least obvious way.
Say you’re driving a car along the freeway and a Jeep Patriot pulls right in front of you. This is generally not a common car so you take note of its color, make, model, and possibly the driver all in the span of about three seconds and then mostly forget about it. Over the course of the week you happen to spot four more Jeep Patriots of the same color while driving on the road—more than you ever have in your life.
Coincidence? I think not. The brain is excellent at noticing patterns. Now that a specific thought or idea has flowed through your conscious brain, it will almost always pick up on any further overlaps of similar information. What we don’t actually recognize are the non-repeating pieces of information floating around us at all times. Perhaps if we all looked at our surroundings more closely, the world would simplify and become overrun by fanatic victims of Baader-Meinhoff. Don’t stress over it too much, though. As humans, we bypass most information around us through a process called selective attention. Only patterns of interest do not get ignored.
As this world is complex beyond our understanding, humans underestimate the chances of noticing even the smallest coincidence and logically understanding it. If there are more ways to order a deck of cards than there are atoms in the solar system, then why would anyone ever expect lightning to strike twice in front of them. Albeit, two Jeep Patriots are not quite as awe-inspiring as the energy traveling through a lightning bolt in less than a second. Nonetheless, it is remarkable how the universe plays such beautifully subtle jokes on us to test our sanity.
Baader-Meinhoff is also very similar to synchronicity, which is when something appears or shows up moments after thinking about it. Like walking through school thinking you spotted your friend, but it wasn’t actually them, and then 10 seconds later you actually do see them. These two phenomena are different, though. The latter is typically much more meaningful and feels as if you have precognition, while the more complicated one to spell is like conscious déjà vu. Both are highly interesting and equally startling.
Most people go through a large portion of their lives never realizing these events are known phenomena and may just lead to people believing they're either insane or touched by a sliver of divinity. It very well could be one or both of those, but it’s most likely your brain picking up on hidden details and noticing patterns. Your brain happens to be very good at doing that. The brain uses patterns as part of the learning process, and often gives importance to ultimately insignificant events, which are still fascinating to observe.
You may just find yourself hearing about Baader-Meinhoff with frequency now that you know it exists. Don’t freak out, though! It’s just the universe playing tricks on you.
