Theory Of Knowledge Anthology
Coincidence
Knowledge Claims:
Many people see coincidences every once in awhile, and we often try to explain the events that happened with some sort of story. I think that people really like to see patterns in things, and so they come up with explanations for things that don’t really have good explanations. One of example of a small coincidence that happens me sometimes is when I learn a new word or a new person in class or somewhere, and then later that day or week I’ll come across that same word in a book or magazine, even though I don’t remember ever seeing it before that day. Although I call that a coincidence, I don’t really think it’s all too strange. I do read a good amount, so I come a cross lots of words. Also I figure that I probably have seen those words before but I just didn’t register them because I didn’t understand them. I feel like coincidences are bound to happen because there are just so many things that can happen, that eventually a couple of them would be coincidences.
Knowledge Questions: Why do people like to believe that something outside of their being caused a coincidence?
Often times when coincidences happen, people like to think that something caused it, like a greater being. In the podcast we hear from a lady who believes that her dead parents perhaps had something to do with her coincidence. I think that people like to come up with explanations like these because it makes them feel secure, like someone is watching over them. It also could be that some people just don’t like giving it up as random chance, because that’s no fun.
To what extent to coincidences mean something for the person they happen to?
To a very limited extent. I think that, like stated above, people like to assign meaning to their coincidences, but I don’t think they should. Coincidences are just the product of random chance, they don’t really have any affect on people other than the coincidence itself. Coincidences happen to everyone.