Crazy Coincidences - Page 3

DebunkThisPls · 26th November 2020, 06:07 PM

Originally Posted by Matthew Ellard

Your parents didn't accidentally set up an automatic payment to their phone account. They had to concentrate and enter their account details.

They can simply check this by asking the phone company.

I just heard it was actually the cable bill. Also, that's kinda depressing. I still don't get why neither remembered it, especially since neither had any interest in setting this up

DebunkThisPls · 26th November 2020, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Things like items in the news don't count as coincidences. Like, I've recently seen a lot of articles about a famous football (soccer) player, a person I'd never heard of before. Well, I probably did in his heyday, but the name never registered since I don't follow the sport. Coincidence? No, he died.

Similar with any mention of Covid-19. Why, a year ago you never heard anything about it!

(eta) I swear the previous post was not up yet when I started typing mine. COINCIDENCE!!!

Wait are you mentioning my original comment about Mardona? That's pretty crazy, no? Also I thought this was responding to my original comment about him

Minoosh · 26th November 2020, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by P.J. Denyer

They're really hammering this one on that show "The News" at the moment, I wish they'd get some better writers, they don't seem to have any sense of reality the last few years.

Minoosh · 26th November 2020, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls

I just heard it was actually the cable bill. Also, that's kinda depressing. I still don't get why neither remembered it, especially since neither had any interest in setting this up

Cable companies are EVIL. Seriously, if any utility was going to fraudulently enroll me in autopay, it would be the cable company.

Trebuchet · 26th November 2020, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by Minoosh

Cable companies are EVIL. Seriously, if any utility was going to fraudulently enroll me in autopay, it would be the cable company.

Except mine would be too incompetent to actually pull it off.

DebunkThisPls · 26th November 2020, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by Minoosh

Cable companies are EVIL. Seriously, if any utility was going to fraudulently enroll me in autopay, it would be the cable company.

I just got some information from our cable company, it's much easier than others suggested. It just takes a click of a button and it gives you a choice to fill out the info accordingly or it just goes to default, which is why it was forgotten and at $360 instead of $180

Pixel42 · 26th November 2020, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by Minoosh

I was sort of joking, riffing on other comments. But at the risk of offering up another pointless anecdote: A few weeks ago I picked up a prescription, and lost it; I had refills, so the pharmacy filled it again - AND I LOST IT. I *still* had refills, but then the doc said maybe I shouldn't be on this medication - he was worried about my absentmindedness; he didn't want to miss anything if I was having bad side effects. Well, a couple of days later one of the bottles turned up, but the date made no sense and five pills were gone which should have been impossible.

To cut the anecdote short it was a complete mystery. The fill date does not match my memory of either of the lost refills, and the pill count is off. If I were one to assign cosmic meaning I might wonder if the "universe" wanted me to get off this drug. But if so, why did it throw the bottle back at me

?

I'm not automatically hostile to the idea that the universe is sending me messages, and I know people who talk this way all the time. But ultimately I don't have the kind of brain that can really believe it, either. When I talk like that, I'm speaking ironically.

Was it a statin? After several memory glitches like the ones you describe (the worst of which were two TGAs) I was starting to think I was in the early stages of dementia so I did some research, and discovered there was evidence, albeit entirely anecdotal, of a link between statins and memory/cognitive problems. I was sceptical, but decided it was worth doing the experiment of stopping taking it for a month to see if that helped, whilst being alert to the existence of confirmation bias, the nocebo effect etc. All I can say is that I'm never taking a statin again. It was as if a fog, which had descended so gradually I hadn't even noticed, had suddenly lifted.

Minoosh · 26th November 2020, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by Pixel42

Was it a statin? After several memory glitches like the ones you describe (the worst of which were two TGAs) I was starting to think I was in the early stages of dementia so I did some research, and discovered there was evidence, albeit entirely anecdotal, of a link between statins and memory/cognitive problems. I was sceptical, but decided it was worth doing the experiment of stopping taking it for a month to see if that helped, whilst being alert to the existence of confirmation bias, the nocebo effect etc. All I can say is that I'm never taking a statin again. It was as if a fog, which had descended so gradually I hadn't even noticed, had suddenly lifted.

It wasn't a statin; it was an old-style antidepressant prescribed off-label for sleep. I never (that I can remember

) had anything like global amnesia, but it was a type of medication that could cause situational amnesia.

I'm leery of statins too, and am WAY overdue for all checkups including bloodwork and never want to be a statin; the benefit isn't well understood and I have heard many things about adverse affects.

dann · 26th November 2020, 11:49 PM

I have been looking forward to Ben Goldacre's book, Do Statins Work? (GoodReads), but publication keeps getting postponed.

EHocking · 27th November 2020, 12:03 AM

Originally Posted by dann

I have been looking forward to Ben Goldacre's book, Do Statins Work? (GoodReads), but publication keeps getting postponed.

He’s probably forgotten he’d written it.

DebunkThisPls · 27th November 2020, 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by Minoosh

It wasn't a statin; it was an old-style antidepressant prescribed off-label for sleep. I never (that I can remember

) had anything like global amnesia, but it was a type of medication that could cause situational amnesia.

I'm leery of statins too, and am WAY overdue for all checkups including bloodwork and never want to be a statin; the benefit isn't well understood and I have heard many things about adverse affects.

Do you think it's ok if I use your story for a thread? I was curious about it and wanted some opinions for how it could've happened. If you say no I totally understand. Thanks

DebunkThisPls · 27th November 2020, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by Pixel42

Was it a statin? After several memory glitches like the ones you describe (the worst of which were two TGAs) I was starting to think I was in the early stages of dementia so I did some research, and discovered there was evidence, albeit entirely anecdotal, of a link between statins and memory/cognitive problems. I was sceptical, but decided it was worth doing the experiment of stopping taking it for a month to see if that helped, whilst being alert to the existence of confirmation bias, the nocebo effect etc. All I can say is that I'm never taking a statin again. It was as if a fog, which had descended so gradually I hadn't even noticed, had suddenly lifted.

Do you have a theory on how the story he mentioned might've happened? It seems kinda crazy that he wouldve forgotten the dates of both, where he put them, and that he had taken 5 pills

Spektator · 27th November 2020, 01:09 PM

I was talking with my brother about this and he reminded me of a tale my late great-uncle used to trot out about twice a year. My great-uncle (call him Sam) swore it was absolutely true.

OK, he grew up poor, but when he was a senior in his high school, he took a part-time job JUST to afford a senior-class ring. It came with his name and graduation date inscribed on the inside.

Fast forward about ten years. He got married, got a good job, and he started to prosper. He had always loved fishing, and as a deferred honeymoon, he and his wife went on a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they went deep-sea fishing. He hooked something and was so excited that he grabbed at the heavy fishing line. Before he knew it, the line whipped off his beloved class ring, and it plopped into the ocean.

He missed it, but bore with the loss. More years passed. By the time their oldest son was graduating from college, Sam and his wife were well-off. Upper-middle-class or better. As a graduation present to HIS son, Sam took the whole family on a two-week trip to Hawaii (this would have been maybe 1980 or so). Sam's son didn't really like fishing, but Sam insisted they go deep-sea fishing. His son hooked a fish, and Sam pulled it in.

This company let you dress and cook any fish you legally caught yourself. There was a big barbecue-type area set up, and Sam insisted on gutting and fileting his catch. He had the big fish on a huge table. With a sharp filet knife, he slit into the fish's belly and started to gut it, when to his amazement he felt the knife cut into something hard!

It was his thumb.

DebunkThisPls · 27th November 2020, 01:18 PM

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this lol. Hope he was okay but how did his thumb get in the fish? I assumed when he was gutting it he stuck his thumb in by mistake?

Spektator · 27th November 2020, 01:35 PM

It was the way he explained that his left thumb was missing the last joint. The story was hogwash--he lost it when someone slammed a car door on it, my great-aunt told us.

DebunkThisPls · 27th November 2020, 01:43 PM

Ah, I understand. It is a funny story though, thanks for sharing

Pixel42 · 27th November 2020, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls

Do you have a theory on how the story he mentioned might've happened? It seems kinda crazy that he wouldve forgotten the dates of both, where he put them, and that he had taken 5 pills

We simply don't have enough information to work out what happened, and we have no way to gather more. That doesn't mean there isn't an explanation, just that we're unlikely to ever know what it is.

arthwollipot · 29th November 2020, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls

Ah, I understand. It is a funny story though, thanks for sharing

It's an old joke format that people my parents age (80s) refer to as a "shaggy dog story". You tell a long and detailed story that shows every hallmark of being perfectly serious, then you turn it around with a totally left-field punchline.

arthwollipot · 3rd December 2020, 09:11 PM

I've just seen the author Liu Cixin mentioned twice in a single day. It's been weeks since I've seen him mentioned even once.

Coincidence? Yeah.

Wudang · 4th December 2020, 03:17 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

I've just seen the author Liu Cixin mentioned twice in a single day. It's been weeks since I've seen him mentioned even once.

Coincidence? Yeah.

Yeah. I've also noticed that people tend to apply simple probability to events that might make more sense if looked at with Bayesian probability. For example, someone mentioned an author. There are x published authors therefore the probability of the same author being mentioned twice is x². Yeah there are other problems with that example.

But not all authors have the same probability. An author is more likely to be mentioned if

they're popular
they're in the news
something similar to something they wrote is in the news
someone with a name like them or one of their characters is in the news or was mentioned earlier.
etc

Joe Random · 4th December 2020, 10:19 AM

Suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness.

alfaniner · 5th December 2020, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Joe Random

Suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness.

!!! Before making the page jump to this page and post, I was going to post something about a plate of shrimp.

Thermal · 5th December 2020, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

!!! Before making the page jump to this page and post, I was going to post something about a plate of shrimp.

Damn! And I was just about to post something about cock tails. Way different meaning, but there you are.

alfaniner · 5th December 2020, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

!!! Before making the page jump to this page and post, I was going to post something about a plate of shrimp.

Adding a logical explanation:

Joe Random · 5th December 2020, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Adding a logical explanation:

Cheers!

EHocking · 15th December 2020, 05:02 PM

My bluetooth mouse is playing up (double-clicking), so I googled the problem and first item was a YouTube video.

Not only was the mouse in the video the same make and model as my mouse, the batteries in that mouse were also exactly the same make and model as in my mouse.

The video is 6 years old.

DebunkThisPls · 15th December 2020, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by EHocking

My bluetooth mouse is playing up (double-clicking), so I googled the problem and first item was a YouTube video.

Not only was the mouse in the video the same make and model as my mouse, the batteries in that mouse were also exactly the same make and model as in my mouse.

The video is 6 years old.

That's a cool coincidence!

JesseCuster · 18th December 2020, 10:05 PM

One day my sister and her husband came to visit. He had with him some beer called "The Trooper", named after the Iron Maiden song and an officially licensed from Iron Maiden. The label on the bottle is designed like the cover of the original single (you can Google the image yourself). When they arrived in the house and he put the beer on the the table he noticed I was wearing an Iron Maiden "The Trooper" T-shirt, designed pretty much the same as the beer label. We noticed what a coincidence it was. In the background, my computer was playing iTunes in shuffle mode and just as we noticed the coincidence, guess what song started playing? The Trooper, by Iron Maiden.

I thought that was a pretty funky coincidence.

DebunkThisPls · 19th December 2020, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by JesseCuster

One day my sister and her husband came to visit. He had with him some beer called "The Trooper", named after the Iron Maiden song and an officially licensed from Iron Maiden. The label on the bottle is designed like the cover of the original single (you can Google the image yourself). When they arrived in the house and he put the beer on the the table he noticed I was wearing an Iron Maiden "The Trooper" T-shirt, designed pretty much the same as the beer label. We noticed what a coincidence it was. In the background, my computer was playing iTunes in shuffle mode and just as we noticed the coincidence, guess what song started playing? The Trooper, by Iron Maiden.

I thought that was a pretty funky coincidence.

That's an awesome one too! I've heard of Iron Maiden before because my dad's a big 70s and 80s music guy, and I also think I once heard a similar story where a guy heard a certain Iron Maiden song mentioned on TV, then heard it on the radio, but it may be confirmation bias

arthwollipot · 20th December 2020, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls

That's an awesome one too! I've heard of Iron Maiden before because my dad's a big 70s and 80s music guy, and I also think I once heard a similar story where a guy heard a certain Iron Maiden song mentioned on TV, then heard it on the radio, but it may be confirmation bias

Thanks for making me aware of how old I've become.

EHocking · 21st December 2020, 01:16 AM

Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls

That's an awesome one too! I've heard of Iron Maiden before because my dad's a big 70s and 80s music guy, and I also think I once heard a similar story where a guy heard a certain Iron Maiden song mentioned on TV, then heard it on the radio, but it may be confirmation bias

The band I was in in the 80s used to practice at rooms which pros would often use. One day we were dragooned into roadying for Iron Maiden moving some of their gear to the gig and got to (briefly) chat with the band.

20 years later and on the opposite side of the world I met Iron Maiden lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, at the fencing school where I was a member.
His coach was our instructor and founder of that school.

I was the only other person there who actually knew who he was.
I don’t know what that says about them - or me for that matter.
He’s an excellent foil fencer BTW and now you know this, you’ll notice he often takes up a classic fencing stance when on stage.

alfaniner · 21st December 2020, 07:38 AM

Two things in the last couple days:
I've been making a lot of things with my recently-purchased 3D printer. I had just started up a print of my first Star Wars related item, only to come back to my computer and see the news that Jeremy Bulloch (The Original Boba Fett) had died.

Earlier this month, I'd heard David Prowse had died and that perhaps inspired me to watch The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series) again, which I just finished. He had a bit part in that. This week on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast (OK, I can guess what inspired that name) one of the rogues mentioned Slartibartfast, and their newest member Cara Santa-Maria ("Howdy!"), being unfamiliar with the character, laughed almost exactly the same way Dent Arthur Dent did when he first heard the name.

arthwollipot · 21st December 2020, 06:43 PM

I think Slartibartfast sounds less silly and more awkward in an American accent.

Fun fact: In the Original Radio Scripts, the postscript to the episode where Slartibartfast is introduced describes how Adams came up with the name. He started with something completely unbroadcastable - Phartiphucborlz - and fiddled with the syllables until it worked.

alfaniner · 22nd December 2020, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

I think Slartibartfast sounds less silly and more awkward in an American accent.

Fun fact: In the Original Radio Scripts, the postscript to the episode where Slartibartfast is introduced describes how Adams came up with the name. He started with something completely unbroadcastable - Phartiphucborlz - and fiddled with the syllables until it worked.

Ah, now I understand what he was talking about in some of the interviews in the extras on the disc. He said he'd come up with something as offensive as he could make it and fiddled with the syllables until it worked, as you said. But he didn't mention the original name.

Athyrio · 4th January 2021, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by JesseCuster

One day my sister and her husband came to visit. He had with him some beer called "The Trooper", named after the Iron Maiden song and an officially licensed from Iron Maiden. The label on the bottle is designed like the cover of the original single (you can Google the image yourself). When they arrived in the house and he put the beer on the the table he noticed I was wearing an Iron Maiden "The Trooper" T-shirt, designed pretty much the same as the beer label. We noticed what a coincidence it was. In the background, my computer was playing iTunes in shuffle mode and just as we noticed the coincidence, guess what song started playing? The Trooper, by Iron Maiden.

I thought that was a pretty funky coincidence.

Auric Goldfinger stated in the film Goldfinger that, "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."

Put that helmet on.

Dude111 · 18th January 2021, 12:03 AM

Try to remember everyone.. There are NO SUCH THINGS AS COINCIDENCES.... Everything happens for a reason

Pixel42 · 18th January 2021, 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by Dude111

Try to remember everyone.. There are NO SUCH THINGS AS COINCIDENCES....

I always roll my eyes when someone says this. It's like saying there's no such thing as gravity.

Quote:

Everything happens for a reason

The reason coincidences happen is the law of probability, in the same way that the reason things fall downwards is the law of gravity.

26th November 2020, 06:07 PM	#81
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Originally Posted by Matthew Ellard Your parents didn't accidentally set up an automatic payment to their phone account. They had to concentrate and enter their account details. They can simply check this by asking the phone company. I just heard it was actually the cable bill. Also, that's kinda depressing. I still don't get why neither remembered it, especially since neither had any interest in setting this up
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161

26th November 2020, 06:08 PM	#82
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Originally Posted by alfaniner Things like items in the news don't count as coincidences. Like, I've recently seen a lot of articles about a famous football (soccer) player, a person I'd never heard of before. Well, I probably did in his heyday, but the name never registered since I don't follow the sport. Coincidence? No, he died. Similar with any mention of Covid-19. Why, a year ago you never heard anything about it! (eta) I swear the previous post was not up yet when I started typing mine. COINCIDENCE!!! Wait are you mentioning my original comment about Mardona? That's pretty crazy, no? Also I thought this was responding to my original comment about him
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Last edited by DebunkThisPls; 26th November 2020 at 06:14 PM.

26th November 2020, 06:31 PM	#85
Trebuchet Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Port Townsend, Washington Posts: 31,067	Originally Posted by Minoosh Cable companies are EVIL. Seriously, if any utility was going to fraudulently enroll me in autopay, it would be the cable company. Except mine would be too incompetent to actually pull it off.
	__________________ Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

26th November 2020, 06:34 PM	#86
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Originally Posted by Minoosh Cable companies are EVIL. Seriously, if any utility was going to fraudulently enroll me in autopay, it would be the cable company. I just got some information from our cable company, it's much easier than others suggested. It just takes a click of a button and it gives you a choice to fill out the info accordingly or it just goes to default, which is why it was forgotten and at $360 instead of $180
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161

26th November 2020, 10:59 PM	#87
Pixel42 Schrödinger's cat Join Date: May 2004 Location: Malmesbury, UK Posts: 13,018	Originally Posted by Minoosh I was sort of joking, riffing on other comments. But at the risk of offering up another pointless anecdote: A few weeks ago I picked up a prescription, and lost it; I had refills, so the pharmacy filled it again - AND I LOST IT. I still had refills, but then the doc said maybe I shouldn't be on this medication - he was worried about my absentmindedness; he didn't want to miss anything if I was having bad side effects. Well, a couple of days later one of the bottles turned up, but the date made no sense and five pills were gone which should have been impossible. To cut the anecdote short it was a complete mystery. The fill date does not match my memory of either of the lost refills, and the pill count is off. If I were one to assign cosmic meaning I might wonder if the "universe" wanted me to get off this drug. But if so, why did it throw the bottle back at me ? I'm not automatically hostile to the idea that the universe is sending me messages, and I know people who talk this way all the time. But ultimately I don't have the kind of brain that can really believe it, either. When I talk like that, I'm speaking ironically. Was it a statin? After several memory glitches like the ones you describe (the worst of which were two TGAs) I was starting to think I was in the early stages of dementia so I did some research, and discovered there was evidence, albeit entirely anecdotal, of a link between statins and memory/cognitive problems. I was sceptical, but decided it was worth doing the experiment of stopping taking it for a month to see if that helped, whilst being alert to the existence of confirmation bias, the nocebo effect etc. All I can say is that I'm never taking a statin again. It was as if a fog, which had descended so gradually I hadn't even noticed, had suddenly lifted.
	__________________ "If you trust in yourself ... and believe in your dreams ... and follow your star ... you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things" - Terry Pratchett

26th November 2020, 06:13 PM	#83
Minoosh Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 12,242	Originally Posted by P.J. Denyer They're really hammering this one on that show "The News" at the moment, I wish they'd get some better writers, they don't seem to have any sense of reality the last few years.

26th November 2020, 06:15 PM	#84
Minoosh Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 12,242	Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls I just heard it was actually the cable bill. Also, that's kinda depressing. I still don't get why neither remembered it, especially since neither had any interest in setting this up Cable companies are EVIL. Seriously, if any utility was going to fraudulently enroll me in autopay, it would be the cable company.

26th November 2020, 11:21 PM	#88
Minoosh Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 12,242	Originally Posted by Pixel42 Was it a statin? After several memory glitches like the ones you describe (the worst of which were two TGAs) I was starting to think I was in the early stages of dementia so I did some research, and discovered there was evidence, albeit entirely anecdotal, of a link between statins and memory/cognitive problems. I was sceptical, but decided it was worth doing the experiment of stopping taking it for a month to see if that helped, whilst being alert to the existence of confirmation bias, the nocebo effect etc. All I can say is that I'm never taking a statin again. It was as if a fog, which had descended so gradually I hadn't even noticed, had suddenly lifted. It wasn't a statin; it was an old-style antidepressant prescribed off-label for sleep. I never (that I can remember ) had anything like global amnesia, but it was a type of medication that could cause situational amnesia. I'm leery of statins too, and am WAY overdue for all checkups including bloodwork and never want to be a statin; the benefit isn't well understood and I have heard many things about adverse affects.

26th November 2020, 11:49 PM	#89
dann Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 13,617	I have been looking forward to Ben Goldacre's book, Do Statins Work? (GoodReads), but publication keeps getting postponed.
	__________________ /dann "Stupidity renders itself invisible by assuming very large proportions. Completely unreasonable claims are irrefutable. Ni-en-leh pointed out that a philosopher might get into trouble by claiming that two times two makes five, but he does not risk much by claiming that two times two makes shoe polish." B. Brecht "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions." K. Marx

27th November 2020, 12:03 AM	#90
EHocking Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,550	Originally Posted by dann I have been looking forward to Ben Goldacre's book, Do Statins Work? (GoodReads), but publication keeps getting postponed. He’s probably forgotten he’d written it.
EHocking Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,550	__________________ "A closed mouth gathers no feet" "Ignorance is a renewable resource" P.J.O'Rourke "It's all god's handiwork, there's little quality control applied", Fox26 reporter on Texas granite You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it. Art Buchwald

27th November 2020, 12:34 AM	#91
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Originally Posted by Minoosh It wasn't a statin; it was an old-style antidepressant prescribed off-label for sleep. I never (that I can remember ) had anything like global amnesia, but it was a type of medication that could cause situational amnesia. I'm leery of statins too, and am WAY overdue for all checkups including bloodwork and never want to be a statin; the benefit isn't well understood and I have heard many things about adverse affects. Do you think it's ok if I use your story for a thread? I was curious about it and wanted some opinions for how it could've happened. If you say no I totally understand. Thanks
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161

27th November 2020, 12:56 PM	#92
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Originally Posted by Pixel42 Was it a statin? After several memory glitches like the ones you describe (the worst of which were two TGAs) I was starting to think I was in the early stages of dementia so I did some research, and discovered there was evidence, albeit entirely anecdotal, of a link between statins and memory/cognitive problems. I was sceptical, but decided it was worth doing the experiment of stopping taking it for a month to see if that helped, whilst being alert to the existence of confirmation bias, the nocebo effect etc. All I can say is that I'm never taking a statin again. It was as if a fog, which had descended so gradually I hadn't even noticed, had suddenly lifted. Do you have a theory on how the story he mentioned might've happened? It seems kinda crazy that he wouldve forgotten the dates of both, where he put them, and that he had taken 5 pills
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161

27th November 2020, 01:09 PM	#93
Spektator Watching . . . always watching. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Southeastern USA Posts: 1,938	I was talking with my brother about this and he reminded me of a tale my late great-uncle used to trot out about twice a year. My great-uncle (call him Sam) swore it was absolutely true. OK, he grew up poor, but when he was a senior in his high school, he took a part-time job JUST to afford a senior-class ring. It came with his name and graduation date inscribed on the inside. Fast forward about ten years. He got married, got a good job, and he started to prosper. He had always loved fishing, and as a deferred honeymoon, he and his wife went on a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they went deep-sea fishing. He hooked something and was so excited that he grabbed at the heavy fishing line. Before he knew it, the line whipped off his beloved class ring, and it plopped into the ocean. He missed it, but bore with the loss. More years passed. By the time their oldest son was graduating from college, Sam and his wife were well-off. Upper-middle-class or better. As a graduation present to HIS son, Sam took the whole family on a two-week trip to Hawaii (this would have been maybe 1980 or so). Sam's son didn't really like fishing, but Sam insisted they go deep-sea fishing. His son hooked a fish, and Sam pulled it in. This company let you dress and cook any fish you legally caught yourself. There was a big barbecue-type area set up, and Sam insisted on gutting and fileting his catch. He had the big fish on a huge table. With a sharp filet knife, he slit into the fish's belly and started to gut it, when to his amazement he felt the knife cut into something hard! It was his thumb.

27th November 2020, 01:18 PM	#94
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this lol. Hope he was okay but how did his thumb get in the fish? I assumed when he was gutting it he stuck his thumb in by mistake?
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Last edited by DebunkThisPls; 27th November 2020 at 01:21 PM.

27th November 2020, 01:35 PM	#95
Spektator Watching . . . always watching. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Southeastern USA Posts: 1,938	It was the way he explained that his left thumb was missing the last joint. The story was hogwash--he lost it when someone slammed a car door on it, my great-aunt told us.

27th November 2020, 01:43 PM	#96
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Ah, I understand. It is a funny story though, thanks for sharing
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161

27th November 2020, 02:14 PM	#97
Pixel42 Schrödinger's cat Join Date: May 2004 Location: Malmesbury, UK Posts: 13,018	Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls Do you have a theory on how the story he mentioned might've happened? It seems kinda crazy that he wouldve forgotten the dates of both, where he put them, and that he had taken 5 pills We simply don't have enough information to work out what happened, and we have no way to gather more. That doesn't mean there isn't an explanation, just that we're unlikely to ever know what it is.
	__________________ "If you trust in yourself ... and believe in your dreams ... and follow your star ... you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things" - Terry Pratchett

29th November 2020, 10:42 PM	#98
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,317	Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls Ah, I understand. It is a funny story though, thanks for sharing It's an old joke format that people my parents age (80s) refer to as a "shaggy dog story". You tell a long and detailed story that shows every hallmark of being perfectly serious, then you turn it around with a totally left-field punchline.
	__________________ Please scream inside your heart.

3rd December 2020, 09:11 PM	#99
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,317	I've just seen the author Liu Cixin mentioned twice in a single day. It's been weeks since I've seen him mentioned even once. Coincidence? Yeah.
	__________________ Please scream inside your heart.

4th December 2020, 03:17 AM	#100
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 13,504	Originally Posted by arthwollipot I've just seen the author Liu Cixin mentioned twice in a single day. It's been weeks since I've seen him mentioned even once. Coincidence? Yeah. Yeah. I've also noticed that people tend to apply simple probability to events that might make more sense if looked at with Bayesian probability. For example, someone mentioned an author. There are x published authors therefore the probability of the same author being mentioned twice is x². Yeah there are other problems with that example. But not all authors have the same probability. An author is more likely to be mentioned if they're popular they're in the news something similar to something they wrote is in the news someone with a name like them or one of their characters is in the news or was mentioned earlier. etc
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

4th December 2020, 10:19 AM	#101
Joe Random Master Poster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,796	Suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness.

5th December 2020, 12:13 PM	#102
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 24,896	Originally Posted by Joe Random Suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness. !!! Before making the page jump to this page and post, I was going to post something about a plate of shrimp.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

5th December 2020, 12:54 PM	#103
Thermal Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 13,542	Originally Posted by alfaniner !!! Before making the page jump to this page and post, I was going to post something about a plate of shrimp. Damn! And I was just about to post something about cock tails. Way different meaning, but there you are.
	__________________ We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don't -Frank A. Clark Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect -Mark Twain

5th December 2020, 02:02 PM	#104
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 24,896	Originally Posted by alfaniner !!! Before making the page jump to this page and post, I was going to post something about a plate of shrimp. Adding a logical explanation: We were obviously both reminded of a scene in Repo Man, where Tracey Walter is explaining the meaning of the universe to Emilio Estevez, using the above analogy.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

5th December 2020, 03:20 PM	#105
Joe Random Master Poster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,796	Originally Posted by alfaniner Adding a logical explanation: We were obviously both reminded of a scene in Repo Man, where Tracey Walter is explaining the meaning of the universe to Emilio Estevez, using the above analogy. Cheers!

15th December 2020, 05:02 PM	#106
EHocking Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,550	My bluetooth mouse is playing up (double-clicking), so I googled the problem and first item was a YouTube video. Not only was the mouse in the video the same make and model as my mouse, the batteries in that mouse were also exactly the same make and model as in my mouse. The video is 6 years old.
EHocking Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,550	__________________ "A closed mouth gathers no feet" "Ignorance is a renewable resource" P.J.O'Rourke "It's all god's handiwork, there's little quality control applied", Fox26 reporter on Texas granite You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it. Art Buchwald

15th December 2020, 05:30 PM	#107
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Originally Posted by EHocking My bluetooth mouse is playing up (double-clicking), so I googled the problem and first item was a YouTube video. Not only was the mouse in the video the same make and model as my mouse, the batteries in that mouse were also exactly the same make and model as in my mouse. The video is 6 years old. That's a cool coincidence!
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161

18th December 2020, 10:05 PM	#108
JesseCuster Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 1,215	One day my sister and her husband came to visit. He had with him some beer called "The Trooper", named after the Iron Maiden song and an officially licensed from Iron Maiden. The label on the bottle is designed like the cover of the original single (you can Google the image yourself). When they arrived in the house and he put the beer on the the table he noticed I was wearing an Iron Maiden "The Trooper" T-shirt, designed pretty much the same as the beer label. We noticed what a coincidence it was. In the background, my computer was playing iTunes in shuffle mode and just as we noticed the coincidence, guess what song started playing? The Trooper, by Iron Maiden. I thought that was a pretty funky coincidence.

19th December 2020, 12:02 AM	#109
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161	Originally Posted by JesseCuster One day my sister and her husband came to visit. He had with him some beer called "The Trooper", named after the Iron Maiden song and an officially licensed from Iron Maiden. The label on the bottle is designed like the cover of the original single (you can Google the image yourself). When they arrived in the house and he put the beer on the the table he noticed I was wearing an Iron Maiden "The Trooper" T-shirt, designed pretty much the same as the beer label. We noticed what a coincidence it was. In the background, my computer was playing iTunes in shuffle mode and just as we noticed the coincidence, guess what song started playing? The Trooper, by Iron Maiden. I thought that was a pretty funky coincidence. That's an awesome one too! I've heard of Iron Maiden before because my dad's a big 70s and 80s music guy, and I also think I once heard a similar story where a guy heard a certain Iron Maiden song mentioned on TV, then heard it on the radio, but it may be confirmation bias
DebunkThisPls Thinker Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 161

20th December 2020, 10:50 PM	#110
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,317	Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls That's an awesome one too! I've heard of Iron Maiden before because my dad's a big 70s and 80s music guy, and I also think I once heard a similar story where a guy heard a certain Iron Maiden song mentioned on TV, then heard it on the radio, but it may be confirmation bias Thanks for making me aware of how old I've become.
	__________________ Please scream inside your heart.

21st December 2020, 01:16 AM	#111
EHocking Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,550	Originally Posted by DebunkThisPls That's an awesome one too! I've heard of Iron Maiden before because my dad's a big 70s and 80s music guy, and I also think I once heard a similar story where a guy heard a certain Iron Maiden song mentioned on TV, then heard it on the radio, but it may be confirmation bias The band I was in in the 80s used to practice at rooms which pros would often use. One day we were dragooned into roadying for Iron Maiden moving some of their gear to the gig and got to (briefly) chat with the band. 20 years later and on the opposite side of the world I met Iron Maiden lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, at the fencing school where I was a member. His coach was our instructor and founder of that school. I was the only other person there who actually knew who he was. I don’t know what that says about them - or me for that matter. He’s an excellent foil fencer BTW and now you know this, you’ll notice he often takes up a classic fencing stance when on stage.
EHocking Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,550	__________________ "A closed mouth gathers no feet" "Ignorance is a renewable resource" P.J.O'Rourke "It's all god's handiwork, there's little quality control applied", Fox26 reporter on Texas granite You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it. Art Buchwald

21st December 2020, 07:38 AM	#112
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 24,896	Two things in the last couple days: I've been making a lot of things with my recently-purchased 3D printer. I had just started up a print of my first Star Wars related item, only to come back to my computer and see the news that Jeremy Bulloch (The Original Boba Fett) had died. Earlier this month, I'd heard David Prowse had died and that perhaps inspired me to watch The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series) again, which I just finished. He had a bit part in that. This week on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast (OK, I can guess what inspired that name) one of the rogues mentioned Slartibartfast, and their newest member Cara Santa-Maria ("Howdy!"), being unfamiliar with the character, laughed almost exactly the same way Dent Arthur Dent did when he first heard the name.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

21st December 2020, 06:43 PM	#113
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,317	I think Slartibartfast sounds less silly and more awkward in an American accent. Fun fact: In the Original Radio Scripts, the postscript to the episode where Slartibartfast is introduced describes how Adams came up with the name. He started with something completely unbroadcastable - Phartiphucborlz - and fiddled with the syllables until it worked.
	__________________ Please scream inside your heart.

22nd December 2020, 09:22 AM	#114
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 24,896	Originally Posted by arthwollipot I think Slartibartfast sounds less silly and more awkward in an American accent. Fun fact: In the Original Radio Scripts, the postscript to the episode where Slartibartfast is introduced describes how Adams came up with the name. He started with something completely unbroadcastable - Phartiphucborlz - and fiddled with the syllables until it worked. Ah, now I understand what he was talking about in some of the interviews in the extras on the disc. He said he'd come up with something as offensive as he could make it and fiddled with the syllables until it worked, as you said. But he didn't mention the original name.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

4th January 2021, 07:02 PM	#115
Athyrio Hipster Doofus Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nutsack, FL Posts: 2,171	Originally Posted by JesseCuster One day my sister and her husband came to visit. He had with him some beer called "The Trooper", named after the Iron Maiden song and an officially licensed from Iron Maiden. The label on the bottle is designed like the cover of the original single (you can Google the image yourself). When they arrived in the house and he put the beer on the the table he noticed I was wearing an Iron Maiden "The Trooper" T-shirt, designed pretty much the same as the beer label. We noticed what a coincidence it was. In the background, my computer was playing iTunes in shuffle mode and just as we noticed the coincidence, guess what song started playing? The Trooper, by Iron Maiden. I thought that was a pretty funky coincidence. Auric Goldfinger stated in the film Goldfinger that, "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action." Put that helmet on.
	__________________ Knowledge is good.... Emil Faber