We like rare things. Like finding an unusual-looking pebble at the beach or owning a limited edition Beatles album. The same goes for events. Strange and rare experiences make for a good story. But what makes them rare and unusual? Their mathematical improbability, usually. Something that happens so rarely that it makes even the biggest skeptic say, "Wow."
One Redditor was curious to know whether people had such experiences. So they went on to ask people, "What is the lowest probability event you have personally witnessed?" The thread got almost 4k answers, and people had plenty of experiences to share. From witnessing lottery wins to the unlikely coincidences of meeting people you're somehow connected to, people shared all sorts of things.
We here at Bored Panda wanted to know more about why statistically improbable things fascinate us so much. So we reached out to Christopher T. Franck, an associate professor in the Department of Statistics at Virginia Tech. He was kind enough to explain what qualifies as a statistically improbable event and why they surprise us so much.
#21
My ex and I were playing the number game where you guess the other’s number that they’re thinking of. We did it between 1-50, and I guessed his number correctly *6 times in a row*.
It’s never happened again, but he was absolutely losing his mind. He still brings it up randomly and asks if I’m a witch.
68points
#22
Just before going off the a new city, I was working in a computer store. Sold a nice local couple a new laptop. A week later I'm 1000 miles away taking the subway from the airport to pick up the keys to my new place. I hear "Hi, ” and look over, and it's that same couple.
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62points
#23
I'm from Vancouver, Canada. I was visiting Munich, Germany and met a couple from White Rock, they were distressed because something got screwed up in their itinerary and my friends and I helped them sort it out.
Weeks later I am taking the train from Amsterdam to Bruges during a massive thunder storm, I actually saw a tree get hit by lightning then a minute later they announced we would be going back because there was an issue ahead.
We get back to Amsterdam and the station is packed with so many people who are trying to figure out what the plan is now, then I hear someone yell my friends name and it's our new friends from White Rock, who we've now met in two different countries 8000km from home where we lived 40min apart.
59points
#24
Just last year me and a friend were in Japan visiting a mamashibe cafe and while we were waiting in line these two girls entered after us and the one talking had an Australian accent so I said hello being neighbours from New Zealand and she points to the other girl with her and she’s like, she’s also a kiwi! Any way long story short the kiwi girl literally grew up on the same street as me, about ten houses down and we spent our whole lives so close but didn’t know each other haha. Seems so odd we ran into each other in such a remote part of the world.
I know nz is a small place but it isn’t that small.
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50points
#25
Dad was born in a very small hospital in 1939 in Fullerton, CA. Successful life, aero engineer, retired a millionaire at 55 and hung em up. Bought a camper and travelled the states with a fly rod for a few years. Bought a house on a golf course in AR while he was fishing in Montana. Turns out the groundskeeper at the course was born a few minutes prior to him in the next room over. Still tells Pop to respect his elders lol.
They met at 1 day old and re-met 57 years later. I love it.
49points
#26
I (American) sparked up a random conversation with a guy (Canadian) while on a small island off the coast of Croatia in 2021. We discovered that we were both in the same industrial park in rural England at shops across the parking lot from one another at the exact same time in 2017.
46points
#27
Was descending in a commercial airplane through the clouds and saw a skydiver parachuting in the clouds about a football field away from us. My jaw dropped.
44points
#28
Two friends playing a dice game. One rolls 5 6s. The other then has his turn & also rolls 5 6s. I don’t know the odds but I’m pretty sure they’re astronomical
42points
#29
I bumped into the same mate in different countries, different years, no plans.
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41points
#30
Poker night with friends: One friend got two royal flushes in a row.
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35points