Is there a word for...
Out of context: Reply #16
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- lyrek0
when we were kids someone could "curse" you with a number. It's a pretty basic example of what you're talking about Jaline.
Someone would come up to you and say "32". And you'd be like "wtf?" and they'd say, "You're now cursed with the number '32'. For the rest of your life, you will start to see '32' everywhere."
And you'd start to see and recognize it everywhere and, again, think 'wtf?'...but it's just because you're more alert to see this number and attribute it to the curse.
I read somewhere that Americans see an average of 2 billion numbers a day and only register about 1,000. Alarm clocks, microwave settings, traffic signs, etc.
This sophomoric curse is just a way of attuning your mind to a specific set of those 2 billion numbers. 32 was always there.
Stoopid, I know, but attribute it to your post, Jaline, and it works.
You see a word in a book that you don't know, say, "paraselene" and look it up. Then you see that word in a dozen different places the following month. Why is it there more often?
Someone mentions a principal or phrase, say, 'simple harmonic motion' and it's relevant again and again and again. Before you know it, you're seeing that phrase everywhere.
32 was always there.
paraselenes always existed.
Simple harmonic motion is everywhere.There is no spoon. :)