Meeting a freined abroad

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.

Some years ago I was in Sydney, and wanting to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I was searching for the way to get up onto the bridge walkway. Just below the bridge was a large shop/souvenir store, so I went in to ask directions. There were alot of people in there, so I searched around to find someone to ask the question of. I ended up going to one of the counters and started to ask the girl for directions, when, halfway through my question, I noticed her looking at me oddly. Are you ... by any chance... Jamie D W, she asked? I was astonished to suddenly recognize her as an old friend from the UK who I had not seen for two years. I had no idea she was in Australia, and the extreme nature of the coincidence was the fact that I had gone up to ask her, rather than another assistant, my question. However, there may be some explanation, in that it is probable a) I chose a pretty girl to ask the question of (narrowed my chances of actually knowing the person, though still very remote) and b) it's just possible I had some subliminal recognition although my conscious mind did not recognize her. What do you think? But still a coincidence, and has not been repeated in a life of 50 years.
Total votes: 795
Date submitted:Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:35:56 +0000Coincidence ID:3460

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 14/01/2012 - 8:37am

Some years ago I was in Sydney, and wanting to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I was searching for the way to get up onto the bridge walkway. Just below the bridge was a large shop/souvenir store, so I went in to ask directions. There were alot of people in there, so I searched around to find someone to ask the question of. I ended up going to one of the counters and started to ask the girl for directions, when, halfway through my question, I noticed her looking at me oddly. Are you ... by any chance... Jamie Dunford Wood, she asked? I was astonished to suddenly recognize her as an old friend from the UK who I had not seen for two years. I had no idea she was in Australia, and the extreme nature of the coincidence was the fact that I had gone up to ask her, rather than another assistant, my question. However, there may be some explanation, in that it is probable a) I chose a pretty girl to ask the question of (narrowed my chances of actually knowing the person, though still very remote) and b) it's just possible I had some subliminal recognition although my conscious mind did not recognize her. What do you think? But still a coincidence, and has not been repeated in a life of 50 years.