God's Dice

cellomould

Get this folks:

My girlfriend and I have birthdates exactly 10 days apart (mine comes earlier). Our mothers have birthdates exactly 10 days apart (her mother's comes earlier). Our fathers have exactly the same birthdate.

Uncanny, isn't it?!

Do you know what the odds are of matching exactly one birthdate and having two birthdates within 10 days? I figured it to be 1 in 21,649. That is pretty steep. I certainly have not met more than 20,000 people, so it seems like quite a significant figure...it was very unlikely that I would meet someone like her, so it seems.

But what is the significance? Do you think some greater force is at work?

Uncanny as this coincidence is, I suggest that it is just that...a coincidence. Why? Well, if someone had enough time, they could easily come up with 20,000 coincidences of equal probability. Which means...it is highly likely that something will coincide, while the chance occurance appears to us puny humans to be divinely inspired.

Is it not us who give events and coincidences meaning? What if we did not celebrate birthdays? I would not even have noticed the coincidence.

Would you consider it amazing if you found out that you and your friend had the same number of ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, and each ex of theirs had the same first and last initials as one of your exes? Of course you would...the probability would be extraordinarily low...but why would you care to inquire about more than the first names of your friends' old lovers? What I am trying to demonstrate is that you will never know all the coincidences that have graced your life. If you search for some, of course you will find some.

If you want to believe in the grace of God rather than the dice of God, it is your right. I believe that the universe may behave as if there were a divinity at the helm. But that is not the same as saying there is such a divinity at the helm.

I love my girlfriend... I just love her for who she is. It detracts not at all from my sense of wonder that I no longer believe in a God guiding my life. I have had plenty of good luck lately, but I 'ain't superstitious'.

cellmould

Edited by - cellomould on 1 July 2002 8:12:33

Sirona

Hey Cello,
I like this post. I'm one of those wierdos who also looks for coincidences!
E.g I have a couple of dates that are significant for me. It seems that many friends have their birthday or anniversary on one particular date and that significant things happen to me on that date. I share my birthday with at least 3 members of my family aswell.

I really believe that on some level we are all connected. Thats not because of the birthday thing....lets face it there are not that many days in a year! No, but my experiences with divination and other such things have lead me to believe that some things are not pure coincidence (IMO).

My sister has twice had dreams (weeks in advance of an event) that came true. She described one dream in great detail to me and then lo and behold it was on the news.

I'm sure people will disagree with me (funkyderek springs to mind)! nevertheless I think its true.
Sirona

TruckerGB

My fathers birthday is also the same day as mine(April 10th).He has always said that he never made his mind up weather it was the best or worst suprise lol.

Also here is another light hearted coincidence,true though,

April 10th is the day the Titanic set sail,my ex's birthday is April 12th,the day it sank!.

SpiceItUp

Its a very funnie coincidence that you posted this...

I was talking to a friend (most of you know her as Moe) and we were talking birthdates.

Her birthdate and the birthdate of a very close friend of mine (they have never met) are the same. What is even weirder is that his brother has the same birthdate as mine (different year but spooky nonetheless). So between the four of us there are 2 birthdates.

Now for a weird name thing. My sister married and her husband has the same first initial. No big deal right? Well all 3 of his brothers married women that have their same first initial. Now its gets creepy when you take his parents first names and my grandparents first names and they are the same. Very odd indeed.

Oh wait one more thing...my mother and my sister..their birthdays are one day apart. My sister being before my mother (May 6th & May 7th)

Spice

KKLUV155

I have a weird neat one.

I have a friend who is a twin, their b-day is april 18th. His wife had twins on the same day. How much of a coincidence is that. How often does that happen?

larc

My wife and I have birthdays seven days apart. We are both left handed, both first born, and both have ancestors that faught in the Revolutionary War. My son's birthday is one day before mine, and my oldest daughter's is 12 days after mine. She is left handed also.

Solace

My sons birthday is the July 12th and so is his grandpas.

Pure coincidence.

cellomould

What a cool thread! I am regretting less that I stayed up late last night to contemplate my navel in front of a diverse (or not so diverse ) audience.

Two interesting coincidences happened to me today:

(1) I was reading an article this morning about prostitution rings here in Los Angeles. In relating a story about one girl who was virtually enslaved, the article mentioned 'Stockholm Syndrome', where a victim identifies with the assailants or perpetators. I think it was Francois who posted about that last night, and gave the example of Patty Hearst. It's funny how once you hear something for the first time, you start to hear it over an over again. Just another coincidence.

(2) My roomate was hospitalized yesterday because he was experiencing spasms. He is a 54 year old AIDS patient, but in fairly good health ordinarily. I was worried that he was in the hospital because I returned home last night at 12:30 and he was not home. I also noticed that many medications were sitting on his bed, as if he were searching for something and then had to call 911. He called this morning to tell me he was in the hospital and expecting to be home in a few days, which was a relief. But before he confirmed that he was in the hospital, something funny happened.

He asked me if I was asleep. You see, just a few minutes earlier, someone was shouting outside that they were locked out. It was not my roomate, of course, but probably one of the neighbors. Over the phone, I replied yes, I had been asleep, but I had gotten up to see if someone was at the door. Then I explained that no one was there, so I went back to bed.

The coincidence is that this really had happened a few months ago. I was sleeping and so was unaware that my roomate was locked out of the apartment. He was shouting and ringing the doorbell; by the time I got to the door, he had gone downstairs. I went back to bed, thinking it was some weirdo.

So this morning, I was afraid that I had done it again! Especially spooky is that he called very soon after I heard the man shouting outside, and asked 'were you sleeping?'

Thanks for all the replies everyone. This has been amusing.

cellmould

funkyderek

I'm sure people will disagree with me (funkyderek springs to mind)! nevertheless I think its true.

It's nice to have a reputation. I'd better not disappoint:

Coincidences that at first seem amazing are usually quite mundane when examined further. A 20,000 to 1 coincidence seems almost impossible until we realise that we all know dozens or even hundreds of people, each of whom has hundreds of pieces of information available for coincidence, it becomes inevitable that we will encounter many of these coincidences (which is why so many people here have stories to share).

For example:

My wife and I have birthdays seven days apart. We are both left handed, both first born, and both have ancestors that faught in the Revolutionary War. My son's birthday is one day before mine, and my oldest daughter's is 12 days after mine. She is left handed also.

Both left handed, both first born, both have ancestors that fought in the Revolutionary War. The odds for that particular set of data are probably fairly low but they're just three unrelated characteristics out of thousands. For another couple it could be (for example), both have brown eyes, both were born on a Wednesday, both lost a grandparent to cancer.

The cluster of birthdays is perhaps worthy of note but again there are many other configurations that would be just as coincidental. That some improbable event will occur is likely; that a particular one will occur is unlikely.

Here's an article that deals more with the probabilities behind coincidences, especially ones to do with shared birthdates.

NoMoreJW

It rained on Saturday, it rained on Sunday, it rained on Monday and guess what??? Yes! Its raining today!! What a coincidence!!!!

Sorry for the sacasm hehe

If something is possible to happen then never write it off - thats what I say.

Also, why do so many significant things happen in my life on the 28th of a month? My birthday, my Dads birthday, sister in laws birthday, wedding day (thats the first date we were offered), and others that dont spring to mind just now.

Pah, coincidence - whats it good for?

God's Dice

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