Can Someone Explain Odd Coincidences to Me?

Neutral Name · Jul 23, 2019

Ok, so God or not God? What causes coincidences and don't tell me that they just happen. Too many happen, statistically, to just be accidents.

The latest one I just saw is not related to myself, personally, for once. I was watching a documentary about Princess Diana because I was too lazy to change the channel. When they spoke of her death, they spoke of her significant other, Dodi Fayed. I decided to look him up. According to Wikipedia (check the references to ensure that the article is accurate), Dodi Fayed was a cousin of Jamal Khashoggi who "was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 by agents of the Saudi government."
Dodi Fayed - Wikipedia
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399
Dodi Fayed was Egyptian and Jamla Khashoggi was Saudi Arabian. So, they were from many miles apart and from two different countries. Yet, they were cousins, they were both famous and both died young in bad ways. Is that strange or is that a stretch? I thought it was weird.

Wasp · Jul 23, 2019

On the specific case, maybe that's how khashoggi's murder was inspired.

Other than that, all in God's great plan.

ChristineM · Jul 23, 2019

There are over seven billion people in the world, some are related.

David T · Jul 23, 2019

Well it depends on you doesnt it!!! Ya wanna be crazy or do ya wanna have clarity!? Clarity hard work crazy oh thats easy! Mosr chose crazy they love to feel in control and got it all figured out. A fine line between clarity and insanity. The insane dont see the line all the way to the nut house.

exchemist · Jul 23, 2019

Why is this odd? Fayed's mother was a Saudi, Samira Khashoggi. So he had loads of Saudi relatives. Fayed died in a motor accident. Khashoggi was murdered, probably on the orders of the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.

bobhikes · Jul 23, 2019

The fact that they are family and probably influence by family members plus have similar genetics, its not a stretch that they would act in similar ways and because of there actions, it might lead to an early death.

Think about it, if a family member has a genetic disease odds are there will be others in the family with that disease. If a Family is of doctors odds are they will be more doctors down the line. If a family has a history of Alcohol, Gambling or Drug abuse odds are more people in the family will fight those same battles.

exchemist · Jul 23, 2019

So what genetic factors do you think predispose somebody to die, as a passenger, in a motor accident?

Polymath257 · Jul 23, 2019

It seems perfectly ordinary to me. The two men lived very different lives, but obviously both interacted with those of power. Well, that does tend to 'run in families', especially if the families are well established.

This seems no more strange than the fact that two Kennedy brothers were shot and killed.

bobhikes · Jul 23, 2019

We are talking about coincidences. If I told you a Father died in a motor cycle accident and the son died 20 years later would you be surprised. I said genetics and family influence.

Audie · Jul 23, 2019

My boyfriend calls it "correlation sickness", the condition
of finding that everything.... is..... connected.

Here is a good piece on coincidences.

The Myth Of Coincidences And Why We Search For Their Meaning

or

coincidence

or
No Coincidence, No Story! - This American Life

exchemist · Jul 23, 2019

Ah OK. So I take it you are happy to discount genetic influences in this case. That seems more reasonable.

bobhikes · Jul 23, 2019

It could be both, for example perhaps there is something in the family genetics that makes them risk takers. I can't rule it out which is why with family bonds similar results can happen a lot. It maybe from family influence, genetics or family relations( acquaintances that are the same or employment that's the same).

Samael_Khan · Jul 23, 2019

We are all interrelated and interconnected and cause and effect play a big role in what happens in the real world. So it all depends on to what extent you examine the connections.

When it comes to politics and important people, there is a lot behind the scenes things happening so for all we know it isn't a coincidence that both cousins died in those ways.

Example: Is it coincidence that both world wars were instigated by Germany and its allies? No. The rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany was a a direct result of the first war and its repercussions on Germany.

Is it a coincidence that the Jews currently have Israel as their homeland like in the ancient past? No. They were persecuted for over a millennium by Christian lands, were given roles in society that people disliked, which then became some of the richest roles in society. They were then persecuted by Russia during the Pogroms and one guy promoted a homeland for Israel. In WW2 Hitler capitalised on anti Semitism in Christianity and made them the enemy of Germany to rally the people. Thus persecuting them. The worldwide sympathy was the catalyst for them entering Israel and eventually making it their own homeland.

Is it a coincidence that Islam became an empire around 1000 CE? No. One reason for the domination was that the empires at the time were weak because of war. The second reason is that the Turks became Muslim. They were a people of the steppe. The steppe peoples dominated the christian and middle eastern nations and were great and terrifying enemies. They often invaded those lands. Cimmerians, Magyars , Mongols , Seljuks, the Huns were all part of the Steppe. Individually some were involved with the sacking of Rome and caused China to build the Great Wall as a defense and sacked loads of other people. It is only natural then that the Turks would dominate the Christian countries and other nations under Islam and become a great Empire.

Now the above is probably highly inaccurate but it is just what I remember off the top of my head. Properly read up on these things and you will see that there are no coincidences but butterfly effects.

As I said, we are all interconnected and that plays a major role in what happens in our lives.

Samantha Rinne · Jul 23, 2019

Odd coincidences are from God. Specifically, God's way of teaching us, by drawing links to certain themes. For example, I was watching Attack on Titan, and it was the episode where they found out that the Titan things were actually much lighter than they seemed, being mostly hollow, and that Sunday we had a sermon about how the material world of sin will basically try to scare you, but actually there's nothing to it. (Again, hollowness)

That said, while it's tempting to talk of everything happening for a reason, fatalism basically destroys our ability to meaningfully accept responsibility for our lives.

Polymath257 · Jul 23, 2019

Why would I be surprised by something like that? I wouldn't be surprised even if it was *exactly* 20 years later. There are enough people on Earth that even rather unlikely coincidences are pretty common.

Road Less Traveled · Jul 23, 2019

That would be, to me, the first sign of a slave starting to break free from determined fate and control in becoming their own autonomous and responsible being. Eventually learning that the former junk coming out of them they weren’t responsible for, and were ignorant to. Yet going forward, they would become responsible once they are aware and have developed the power to control.

shmogie · Jul 23, 2019

Muslims intermarry at an alarming rate, national boundaries not withstanding. So their being related is no surprise to me.

Khashoggi wasn´t famous to me, I never heard of him till he got killed.

In law enforcement, the stance is that there are no co incidences.

Neutral Name · Jul 23, 2019

Thank you. That was very informative.

Neutral Name · Jul 23, 2019

"the odds get a lot better. Rather than ask, what are the odds that Joan Ginther will win the lottery four times, if you ask, what are the odds that any person will win the lottery four times...

MAZUR: It's about 5 million to one, and that - it takes into account the fact that we have thousands of lotteries in the world."

Those are good. Some I can see as possible to an extent but winning the lottery four times is 5 million to one according to mathematician Joseph Mazur. He couldn't turn it into a normal situation with a great probability due to people doing anything to improve the odds. He says that wealthy people buy more tickets. One would have to buy millions of tickets to ensure winning. So, I doubt that was the case. To me, this proves coincidences.

Evangelicalhumanist · Jul 23, 2019

Probability never works like you think it's going to. Our brains are not adept at working out what happens when large numbers are involved.

Here's a sample: if you have 23 people in a room, what are the odds that 2 of them will share the same birthday (month and day)? What are the odds if you have 75 people in the room? Though it might seem incredible, given that there are 365 days in most years, with only 23 people, the odds are exactly 50/50 that 2 will share a birthday. With 75 people, the odds are 99.9%...almost a certainty!

Now start thinking about how many ways people, no matter how far apart, can be related to one another, and work from there...coincidences are remarkably unsurprising, when you know something about probability.

Can Someone Explain Odd Coincidences to Me?

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