Cambridge Coincidences Collection

As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

Well I Never!

Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University wants to know about your coincidences!

Worms2

Shortly following the 'worms' coincidence with Warner Hotel's advert and McDonalds,the RSPB advertised and their ad features a little boy lifting a worm out of the ground!

Worms

My partner was mentioning that Yahoo had reported that McDonalds were maybe using worms in their food to fill them out. At that moment,an advert for Warner Hotels came on the tv explaining how to get the best placement at their establishments,exploiting the phrase 'the early bird catches the worm'!

Coincidences have patterns

In response to coincidence 8366, I think those were all posted by me yesterday! So, no big coincidence there, but clearly St Albans was a "coincidence hot-spot" for me....it's also very close to being the farthest point from the sea in the UK, the meeting point of many Roman roads, and a spiritual centre. I haven't yet put up any of the coincidences that dramatically changed my thinking. It's kinda frustrating that there isn't a forum connected to this study, where interested folks can discuss these things. I've been engaging with coincidence since I first realised the connection between consciousness and so-called "random chance". Reading many of the stories here, it's noteworthy how many folks have felt compelled (as I do) to explain their interpretations, and see clear evidence of intelligence behind these phenomena And so for this coincidence - that a very surprising number of coincidences seem to share similar qualities. It is very interesting, for instance, that a significant number of the coincidences posted here are about folks looking at a clock at specific times.

Not a chance in life

COINCIDENCE? </p> <p>I will tell you about a meeting between with an acquaintance I hadn’t seen for more than ten years, in conditions that make the meeting too coincidental for mere coincidence. </p> <p>The conditions and laws of the universe may determine my biological life, but not my day to day life. In my view the conditions and laws of physical reality are complex in such a degree that it provides me with free will. So the coincidence I will tell you of can’t considered to be fate or predestination. </p> <p>I will describe all the steps leading up to the meeting in which some kind of choice or lack of choice was involved. About five years before the meeting I lived in Gouda (in the Netherlands) with my wife. We lived in a nice house next to a couple of lakes. I lived there quite satisfactorily, but my wife had vague dreams of a different neighbourhood in Gouda. When she actually suggested to have a look for a house on sale there, I answered, “If we ever mover from here it’s only to live in Rotterdam” (where I was born but had seldom been for over thirty years).

Is St Albans a coincidence hot spot?

On arriving at this web site I was presented with the first few lines of ten previous stories. Stories 3. 4 and 7 had the town name of St Albans in the first line. [ http://understandinguncertainty.org/user-submitted-coincidences/coincidental-phone-numbers http://understandinguncertainty.org/user-submitted-coincidences/green-lights-all-way%E2%80%A6 http://understandinguncertainty.org/user-submitted-coincidences/kenny-copier-man ]

fouling out

I have always been a sports nut. So it is no surprise that I had a nutty coincidence 60 years ago that involved basketball. My high school basketball team was terrific--Weaver won the Connecticut State championship three times in the four years I was there, and the New England Championship my senior year. The star of the team was Johnny Egan, who went on to play 10 seasons in the NBA. I would go to each game, and I always kept score in a little notebook I carried around. In one particular game, Egan had gotten off to a slow start--making only 2 of his first 7 shots. He made the next one, and I turned to my friend who accompanied me and said "Egan is up to 37.5% now." He made his next shot also, and an older male--maybe 25--sitting behind me asked "What's Egan shooting now?" I answered "44.4%." He said "No, I mean to four decimal points." I said "44.4444%." He was not very happy at having asked me a question I could answer that easily. At several of the succeeding games in our small gym we ended up sitting near each other, He would ask me various questions about stats that I could always answer.

Finding Justin

It’s not at all unusual for people to meet in the most unlikely places, and through unlikely series’ of events….but what is often most fascinating, is that it seems sometimes these meetings are preceded by some form of premonition that they will happen. Although this next coincidence isn’t a premonition as such, it certainly feels that way….. It was a few years back, and I realised that since the advent of computers, it’s pretty easy to find a lot of people these days, and one old friend of mine, I was particularly sad to have lost touch with for over twenty years. I searched the internet, and very quickly found him on LinkedIn. Happy about the discovery, I noted his business name, and phone number, and resolved to call him the next day. The next morning, Justin’s details were sitting on my desk in front of me, and I opened my emails. One of them was an enquiry – from Justin’s company! I did a double-take, and wondered if somehow he’d been notified that I looked him up. I opened the email, and it was Justin’s business partner looking to book entertainment for the children at her forthcoming wedding.

Coincidental phone numbers

I lived in St Albans, my phone number was 01727 419673 My friend James’ parents’ number in Salisbury was remarkably similar: 01722 419 678 Not such a weird coincidence, except that years later, having lost touch with James, it was because I remembered that connective number, I was able to contact him again. (I've changed the actual numbers, but the pattern is identical.)

Green Lights All the Way…

Whilst living in St Albans for 2 years, I mostly walked everywhere. For the whole time I was there, every time I reached a crossing (and there are many), the green man lit up. I mean, every single time……it was quite eerie, and I don’t deny that at times, once I was conscious of the phenomenon, I’d probably pace myself to arrive at the crossings just so….but nonetheless, it was quite extraordinary. Whether I was alone, or with friends, (when I couldn’t dictate the pace), the green man lit up on cue…..

Casino Conundrums

I’m not a big gambler, but I have had some remarkable luck (both good and bad) in the few casinos I’ve been in: Istanbul, circa 1993. I’d won a nice wad playing Blackjack, a total of \$875. Upon counting the money, I realised this was exactly the amount I’d win if I placed a \$25 bet on a single number in roulette (at 35/1)….so, my logic went like this: play roulette, and keep betting on the same single number. I could bet 35 times, so have a very good chance of winning my money back…..and a pretty good chance that will happen in less than 35 spins of the wheel. I chose 26 black (I like centre column numbers best), and eventually, after 34 spins, it still had not come up. I bet my last chip. It was on 26. A moment before the croupier called “rien ne vas plus”, I moved it onto 11, another favourite number of mine. Needless to say, 26 dropped in.

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