Are you freaking kidding me???

In my last blog entry, I mentioned having had steak tartare for dinner while visiting Germany. That was in 1984. I haven’t eaten it since that time nor have I ever really spoken about it much over the past 34 years. I don’t believe I’ve seen any recipes for steak tartare or watched anyone prepare it on a cooking show on television. So why am I mentioning steak tartare again?

The morning after I’d posted that blog entry, I was having breakfast at a local restaurant and reading a book on my Kindle. The character in the book was thinking about a fancy meal she’d just had at an expensive restaurant in New York City. The passage read: “…a tuxedoed man had prepared steak tartare at their table, deftly folding the golden yolk into the ruby-red meat.” Are you freaking kidding me??? I almost dropped my fork! I couldn’t believe that I’d just read that. What were the odds of reading about steak tartare within 12 hours of mentioning it in my blog post?!? Weird.

Four days after posting “When is enough, enough…or too much?” I was heading out for a morning appointment. I was only about two or three blocks from my house when the radio DJ said, “Today’s question is ‘Tell us about the last the phrase “enough is enough” came to mind.’” Are you freaking kidding me??? I almost drove off the road! I couldn’t believe I’d just heard that. And I heard the question repeated two and a half hours later, less than two minutes after I’d left the appointment. Weird.

This reminded me of other times when I’d heard some obscure piece of information or a strange word and then heard it again within a short period of time. You know what I’m talking about. I’m sure it’s happened to you. If you don’t think it has, then you will be aware of this phenomenon very soon.

And this really is a “phenomenon.” I once Googled, “What is it called when you learn a new word and then see it everywhere?” The response was: It is called the "Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon" or "frequency illusion". Baader-Meinhof is the phenomenon where one happens upon some obscure piece of information-- often an unfamiliar word or name-- and soon afterwards encounters the same subject again, often repeatedly.

There are some interesting theories about the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. Frequency Illusion, or Cognitive Bias, is the primary theory and it boils down to selective attention. The brain is constantly looking for patterns or novel things and when something new grabs its attention, it gets excited and looks for it again and again. The frequency of hearing or seeing something is merely an illusion, due to the brain’s heightened attention. Another theory looks at trends and cultural shifts as being responsible for something appearing more frequently, while a third theory is based on collective consciousness.

And in case you’re wondering, the term Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon was coined by someone in 1994 after he’d heard of the Baader-Meinhof Gang (a 1970s German terrorist group) twice within 24 hours.

All of this is much more than a quinky dink and I am now very curious to see what other things crop up. Maybe I’ll start seeing frequent references to Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. Maybe you will too. Pay attention if you hear yourself saying, “Are you freaking kidding me???” …and please don’t drive into a ditch!