Now You See It Everywhere: The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon – Mia P
Have you ever seen someone around school and noticed them for the first time, and then seemingly they are everywhere all of the time? This is the main principle of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon – the idea of a cognitive bias that once you become aware of something, you begin to notice it more often, making it seem like it is occurring more frequently than it actually is. The idea of this “frequency illusion” is everywhere in our lives, and you most certainly have noticed it, from car models being seen constantly, to learning a new word that suddenly crops up with concerning frequency. So, here’s why:
The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is a type of cognitive bias that makes you believe something is happening of a higher frequency; when in reality, your brain is just simply paying more attention to it. Our brains work overtime, and even when you think you aren’t thinking, or are asleep, they never properly shut down. This even contributes to smaller tasks you may not notice such as illusory correlation – our brains tendency to perceive patters or connections even when none really exist. It can happen through selective attention or confirmation bias. Selective attention is when you notice something new, your brain will subconsciously look for it, filtering it into your awareness more often and therefore making you think it is showing up more often than usual. Confirmation bias is slightly different, new awarenesses tend to be noticed and remembered more often, confirming it to be new, whereas you ignore those that don’t confirm new awareness or information as they are deemed to be less important by your brain.
This phenomenon comes from the 1990s, where an online commentator heard of the Baader-Meinhof Group (a German militant organisation from the 1970s) for the first time, and then heard about them again soon after. They found this coincidence so striking that it was mentioned on a St. Paul Pioneer Press online discussion board (a Minnesota newspaper) which soon had many readers writing in with similar experiences, “I just learned that and now I see it everywhere!” This name stuck as an example of how something new seems to be able to “pop up everywhere.” As the theory spread across internet forums, psychology discussions and pop culture articles, it was eventually coined the “frequency illusion” which while more accurate isn’t as mysterious and intriguing as the “Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon” and so it is always the second name to be mentioned.
In modern life this is seen increasingly more often; through social media algorithms where platforms reinforce what you engage with, making the illusion stronger and turning perception into reality; in advertising when targeted ads capitalise on what you show interest in; and through viral topics, making it easy to feel like the world’s focus has suddenly shifted to just one thing or topic.
However, this isn’t always positive. The way our brains seek patterns in search of familiarity can cause us to overestimate coincidences and underestimate randomness. Eventually, this plays into larger biases in everyday lives, such as how stereotypes form and misinformation spreads – as our brains seek patterns they will only store the knowledge of what stands out and simply ignore the rest, often leaving people to overlook the facts or focus on what they know, as opposed to being open minded.
So, is the world really changing, or are we just noticing differently? I would tell you to look out for the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon over the next few days, but chances are, I have already inspired your brains to do so.
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