Has this ever happened to you?
Like you learn a new word that you have NEVER read or known before but now that you know it…it’s everywhere.
Your friend is using that word, a random commercial on TV is using that word, your Facebook timeline is talking about it, you see it on a billboard…it’s just everywhere.
It makes you stop for a second and think “am I in the middle of a weird dream? Is the whole universe somehow pranking me? Or am I just really stressed and need some sleep?”
It makes you question your consciousness.
But this whole phenomenon is a little psychological trick that your mind plays with you.
It’s called the Baader Meinhof Phenomenon.
And what we experience is a mixture of frequency illusion and recency bias.
It means that once we learn a new word, our brain selectively pays more attention to it.
This doesn’t happen with the words alone.
It also happens with every kind of stuff in your life.
For example, you think about buying a keyboard and the whole internet is suddenly talking about keyboards.
Freaky, I know.
Facebook is creepy but it can’t read your thoughts…yet.
So when you start seeing keyboard advertisements and conversations everywhere, it’s just because your brain is scanning and highlighting that particular info.