Have you ever learned something new from a book, then had that knowledge pop up again quickly?

[Anonymous]

Yesterday I was doing some genealogy work and learned about Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, which was involved in WWII. I'd never heard of it before. I looked it up on a map and looked up some photos.

This morning I was suffering from insomnia so I pulled some random book off the shelf that I'd never looked at before. It was Oliver Sacks' book on colorblindness. In chapter 1 he tells the story of taking a plane from Hawaii to Guam and having to stop at Kwajalein Atoll for repairs.

Queue the spooky sound effects.

[Anonymous]

Yes, often. It’s called The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, “otherwise known as the frequency illusion or recency bias, is a situation where something you recently learned about suddenly seems to appear everywhere.”

[Anonymous]

Yes, I read a book where a priest hole was part of the story. Prior to that, I had never come across the term. The next month I was talking with a friend 8n the U.K. and she brought it up independently. I got to explain it to my DH, who had not heard of them before and was confused.

[Anonymous]

I read historical fiction. It happens all the time! I didn’t know there was a name for it. Very cool. Thanks, PP!

[Anonymous]

After I learned about the uncanny valley it was everywhere. I also think it happens with new vocabulary and but I always assumed the word is around but I don’t notice it until after I’ve learned it.