Does this weird thing ever happen to anyone?

Question

Sometimes, when I hear about something for the first time, soon after (from a couple of hours to a couple of days after) I hear about it again, or hear it referenced somehow, without trying to. I don't think that's a very good explanation, so

EXAMPLE: Just last night I watched a movie called "Wilder Napalm" which features two pyrokinetic brothers. In the movie one of them makes a reference to a book called "Firestarter" which, prior to that moment, I had never heard of. Later I looked the book up on Wikipedia, and I also took a look at the article about the 1984 film adaptation of the same name and noticed it starred Drew Barrymore as Charlie, who could start fires with her mind.

AND

Just a few minutes ago, I was looking here for questions to answer, and I stumbled upon a question that asked how to control fire with your mind (I say 'stumbled upon' because the way I browse questions is, I open them all up in tabs without really reading the titles, and then close the ones I can't help

Answer 1

It's just like buying a new car. After you buy it, you start to notice how common your new car is.

Answer 2

Woh , actually that is not odd, its very logical and has an extremely large explanation ! very unexplainable to be honest at the moment but think that firstarter question might have crossed your sight many times before but you did not possesed any knowledge of that so you did not noticed it either, but after watching that film you knew what it was wen you opened yahoo answers that same question went across your eyes only this time your mind picked it up knowing that its some thing fimiliar , I hope that you got what I meant !

Answer 3

That new question might have been prompted by the asker watching the same movie. So nothing mysterious there.

It often happens when you come across something new or unusual, it is at the "top of your mind" so you recognise similar or related things. "Oh here's another one". Without the first one, you'd take the second one as the interesting first, OR if it is not so interesting you'd ignore it.

This is called having a mind-set. Try it with visible things. Pick one unusual car, say a new model or something, and see how many of them you suddenly "start seeing".

It can be a bit eerie though -- there is a poem I heard read out on PBS TV in their regular poetry section, then 2 days later there was a movie on another station where someone quoated from the same poem extensively. Later I realised I had already seen that movie some years ago, but because of the time lapse I did NOT recognise the poem when I heard it on the PBS program. It's just when something is fresh it is close to the surface, where new incoming information gets checked against the old. The brain seems to do this to build up connections between separate bits of information, otherwise we would never be able to remember anything.

Answer 4

Something new and unusual to you,is last weeks news to millions of others.What happens to you is not weird it's an everyday occurrence.It happens to everyone who keeps in touch with the world.On the Internet radio,TV or newspapers.It's coincidence and a common one.