Coincidences, patterns...it's just being human
The human brain (I read somewhere) is specifically wired to spot patterns: there are whole areas of the brain devoted just to that function. While consciously you might have no truck with the paranormal, your brain is constantly organising and sifting your experiences and trying to sort them into patterns (valid or not).

Which makes it pretty much inevitable that events that rationally must be considered to be coincidental are sometimes -- often, even -- pounced upon and over-analysed. Whether it's thinking about someone just before they phone you, or 'magically' predicting sports results, or believing that your MP3 player likes Girls Aloud more than Captain Beefheart...

Not that I have any Girls Aloud on my MP3 player, of course.
( reallywittyname veraciously conspues lexiphanicism on, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 15:41, Reply)