Chapter 12. Coincidences

Birthmark

I was marked at birth but for what I was only later able to discover.

Mark of Cain

He was marked with the mark of Cain, so he always suffers and neither death nor good luck does him any good.

Synchronicity

At the deepest level, what seems accidents can be linked. We notice how the second one fits with the first.

Meeting you

Everything had to be as it was; yet, I think we’d have met no matter what.

Meteorology

It’s much better than economics because signs are related to effects and because failure is easy to measure.

Apophenia

It turns out we are wired to see relations between things even when the things are rationally unrelated. If it weren’t for that, most poetry would fall flat.

Alignment of random points

If you distribute points at random on a plain that’s wide enough, it’ll become easy to find points that align. Intuition and common sense aren’t enough to deprive the world of surprise.