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The book I'm reading currently 'modular habits' uses the Japanese train conductors usage of this finger pointing an example of how to reinforce habits - the acc

The book I'm reading currently 'modular habits' uses the Japanese train conductors usage of this finger pointing an example of how to reinforce habits - the accident reduction noted with this technique was quite significant. On another note - how strange is it when you learn something new of which you haven't known about your whole life only to several days later see it appear on hn.. is there a name for this sort of thing?

GuiA 8y ago
> how strange is it when you learn something new of which you haven't known about your whole life only to several days later see it appear on hn.. is there a name for this sort of thing? https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.htm https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human...
- xemoka 8y ago
  I just looked up the name of this phenomenon about 10 minutes ago for something entirely unrelated... How self-reinforcing!
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
gordo4 8y ago
synchronicity
pfooti 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader%E2%80%93Meinhof_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader%E2%80%93Meinhof_effect
- kevinmchugh 8y ago
  I just heard about this!
- JimboOmega 8y ago
  A subset of that I've noticed is whatever type of vehicle I'm driving seems way more common the road. Whether that's a motorcycle, a convertible, or a bland rented sedan.
  - jchw 8y ago
    I believe as a running gag, in some of the Grand Theft Auto games, whatever vehicle you are driving in will appear significantly more often. Not sure if this is still the case, but I always found it amusing, since yeah, I also noticed this effect in real life (even if it's just fallacious.)
    - codetrotter 8y ago
      I noticed that as well but for whatever reason I just assumed that it was so that 1) You wouldn’t be seeing so many other cool cars and thus be tempted to switch cars all the time as that would distract you from driving where you were going. 2) If you wrecked your vehicle it would be easier to get a new one of the exact same kind. But I think your explanation makes a lot of sense. They embedded a lot of humor in those games. It is also conceivable that they initially did it as a joke and then once they had implemented and play tested it they discovered the benefits mentioned above, and made the case stronger for keeping it that way. We may never know :)
    - stordoff 8y ago
      I have read, though I'm struggling to find an original source, that it was due to memory constraints - it was easier to spawn a vehicle if it was already loaded than to keep paging between them.
      - jchw 8y ago
        That sounds like it is probably true. I have never heard any official confirmation that it was a gag, so I think this explanation must be the correct one.
- dmix 8y ago
  From one of the sources ([2]) via Wikipedia: > The considerably catchier sobriquet Baader-Meinhof phenomenon was invented in 1994 by a commenter on the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ online discussion board, who came up with it after hearing the name of the ultra-left-wing German terrorist group twice in 24 hours. The phrase became a meme on the newspaper’s boards, where it still pops up regularly, and has since spread to the wider Internet. It even has its own Facebook page. https://psmag.com/social-justice/theres-a-name-for-that-the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon-59670 https://psmag.com/social-justice/theres-a-name-for-that-the-... Seems like an unusual way for a name to start, via a random comment on some obscure online forum in 1994. Language is weird.
alexpetralia 8y ago
Coincidence
avip 8y ago
The fundamental interconnectedness of all things
bawigga 8y ago
I think the book you're talking about is Atomic Habits by James Clear. I just finished it this month and it's terrific. The story of Japanese Train Conductors stuck out to me as well. Clear also has a terrific blog, which is where many of the content for the book was pulled from. James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/articles https://jamesclear.com/articles Atomic Habits: https://smile.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299 https://smile.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp...
kiba 8y ago
Are you sure that's the title of the book? I googled and search on amazon, but there's no such book. Perhaps you mean Atomic Habits?
- nullandvoid 8y ago
  Indeed I meant atomic habits apologies - would highly recommend!

GuiA 8y ago

> how strange is it when you learn something new of which you haven't known about your whole life only to several days later see it appear on hn.. is there a name for this sort of thing? https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.htm https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human...

xemoka 8y ago
I just looked up the name of this phenomenon about 10 minutes ago for something entirely unrelated... How self-reinforcing!

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

gordo4 8y ago

synchronicity

pfooti 8y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader%E2%80%93Meinhof_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader%E2%80%93Meinhof_effect

kevinmchugh 8y ago
I just heard about this!
JimboOmega 8y ago
A subset of that I've noticed is whatever type of vehicle I'm driving seems way more common the road. Whether that's a motorcycle, a convertible, or a bland rented sedan.
- jchw 8y ago
  I believe as a running gag, in some of the Grand Theft Auto games, whatever vehicle you are driving in will appear significantly more often. Not sure if this is still the case, but I always found it amusing, since yeah, I also noticed this effect in real life (even if it's just fallacious.)
  - codetrotter 8y ago
    I noticed that as well but for whatever reason I just assumed that it was so that 1) You wouldn’t be seeing so many other cool cars and thus be tempted to switch cars all the time as that would distract you from driving where you were going. 2) If you wrecked your vehicle it would be easier to get a new one of the exact same kind. But I think your explanation makes a lot of sense. They embedded a lot of humor in those games. It is also conceivable that they initially did it as a joke and then once they had implemented and play tested it they discovered the benefits mentioned above, and made the case stronger for keeping it that way. We may never know :)
  - stordoff 8y ago
    I have read, though I'm struggling to find an original source, that it was due to memory constraints - it was easier to spawn a vehicle if it was already loaded than to keep paging between them.
    - jchw 8y ago
      That sounds like it is probably true. I have never heard any official confirmation that it was a gag, so I think this explanation must be the correct one.
dmix 8y ago
From one of the sources ([2]) via Wikipedia: > The considerably catchier sobriquet Baader-Meinhof phenomenon was invented in 1994 by a commenter on the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ online discussion board, who came up with it after hearing the name of the ultra-left-wing German terrorist group twice in 24 hours. The phrase became a meme on the newspaper’s boards, where it still pops up regularly, and has since spread to the wider Internet. It even has its own Facebook page. https://psmag.com/social-justice/theres-a-name-for-that-the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon-59670 https://psmag.com/social-justice/theres-a-name-for-that-the-... Seems like an unusual way for a name to start, via a random comment on some obscure online forum in 1994. Language is weird.

alexpetralia 8y ago

Coincidence

avip 8y ago

The fundamental interconnectedness of all things

bawigga 8y ago

I think the book you're talking about is Atomic Habits by James Clear. I just finished it this month and it's terrific. The story of Japanese Train Conductors stuck out to me as well. Clear also has a terrific blog, which is where many of the content for the book was pulled from. James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/articles https://jamesclear.com/articles Atomic Habits: https://smile.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299 https://smile.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp...

kiba 8y ago

Are you sure that's the title of the book? I googled and search on amazon, but there's no such book. Perhaps you mean Atomic Habits?

nullandvoid 8y ago
Indeed I meant atomic habits apologies - would highly recommend!