52 Photos That Show Things That Weren’t Supposed To Happen, According To The Odds (New Pics)

Just because something is improbable doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. We’ve seen people defy the odds countless times, whether it’s winning as an underdog or making a discovery that no one thought was possible. In fact, you’ve probably experienced some improbable things yourself. According to David J. Hall, author of The Improbability Principle, unlikely things occur every single day.

Hall even makes the claim that “extremely improbable events are commonplace.” He also points out that most people’s “intuitive grasp of probability isn’t very good.” So most of us tend to be shocked and impressed by coincidences or unlikely occurrences that actually shouldn’t surprise us at all.

Do you believe in coincidences? People love to debate whether they exist or not, but Paul Brooks at The Guardian says that we often use this label to explain things that we can’t otherwise account for. He provides the example of a dream he had where his mother’s best friend (Rose) appeared to inform him that she had suffered a stroke and passed away.

Then, two weeks later, he found a letter from Rose’s daughter addressed to his mother informing them that Rose had actually passed away. One explanation for his dream is that the spirit of Rose came to him supernaturally and shared this information with him. The other, simpler explanation is that it was all just a coincidence.  

We often love experiencing what we believe are coincidences because they just feel so unlikely. What are the chances that you met a waiter from your hometown while eating dinner at a restaurant on a random island 6,000 miles away? And what are the chances that your absolute favorite song came on the radio only minutes after you were telling your date how special it is to you? Deciding that an improbable encounter is a coincidence is much easier than trying to get to the bottom of a phenomenon.