Hanyi #14 - The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon
When I was in middle school, my sister had come sick with a rare medical condition called Kawasaki disease. The strange name stood out to me, but at the time I was more worried about my sister. However, after she recovered, the name stuck with me. A week later, when on a car ride to church, I looked outside my window and found the exact same name on the front of a building. Even to this day, every time I pass by that building, it sticks out to me. I would pass by billboards on the highway, and there it is: the name Kawasaki imprinted on them. However, prior to hearing of the disease, I have never noticed that building before, even though my family would pass by it every week; nor have I ever noticed the billboards, even though it is the exact highway we would drive on every week.
It was almost as if the name has become suddenly everywhere. It was almost as if the name had popped out right after my sister got sick, and since then has spread everywhere I looked.
As it turns out, though, this is a mere normal phenomenon, a mere trick our brain plays on us. After googling why I suddenly see this name everywhere, it turned out I was experiencing the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. This phenomenon describes how after recently learning of a new object or topic, your brain works to reinforce the newly learned subject with evidence, which typically involves real-life scenarios and objects (Pietrangelo).
Obviously, prior to hearing of the term Kawasaki, I have seen the building and billboards labeled Kawasaki (which turned out to be a motorbike manufacturer) multiple times. However, as I never directly learned of the term before, my brain simply dismissed it as irrelevant. But after hearing of the term on multiple occurrences from doctors that looked after my sister, it became engraved into my head, and thus my brain began to notice it at its every occurrence.
This phenomenon really goes to demonstrate how biased our memory can be. The things we remember, and the things we do not, can be hugely influenced by what our brain deemed important.
Work Cited:
Pietrangelo, Ann. “Understanding the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 17 Dec. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.
Hey Hanyi! I’ve noticed this phenomenon before as well! My family got a Tesla Model 3 in 2018 and before that, I hadn’t given Teslas much thought. Shortly after that however, I began noticing them everywhere. I began counting and noticing the Teslas on the highways, at every stoplight, and in my own neighborhood. The most surprising thing however, was the fact that I noticed the Tesla factory near my badminton training center for the first time despite having passed through it almost 3 times a week. The brain works in mysterious ways, and I guess this is just one of them. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi, I'm sorry to hear about your sister, and I'm glad she recovered. I feel like I have experienced this phenomenon before, although I can't recall any specific instances of it happening. However, your explanation of why our brain works this way makes a lot of sense to me. When I see something I don't understand, it won't matter to me and I'll dismiss it as irrelevant, not seeing the need to remember it. However, when I recognize something, my brain will take notice of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi! That is certainly really interesting and I feel like that happens to me a lot too. Sometimes I will be introduced to a person and all of a sudden I start noticing them more everywhere around school. It is certainly nice to be able to finally put a name to it and also to know that I’m not the only one suffering from this deja vu-like condition. On another note, I'm glad your sister is better now.
ReplyDeleteHanyi, this was such an interesting post to read about and I have to say that I have definitely experienced this phenomenon before. After my parents leased a gray Lexus car, everywhere I went I saw that car, even the same color; it was crazy. Before my parents leased that car, I never even noticed many people having a Lexus in general but after leasing our Lexus car I noticed people having the exact same color and a model Lexus as us. Recently, my parents bought an white Audi SUV. After we bought that car I saw that exact model everywhere, again. Though I saw various colors of the same model, it was still the same car and I noticed it everywhere after we purchased it. I never knew there was a name for this and it was very interesting to read about it.
ReplyDeleteHey Hanyi, I have also experienced this a lot, but I never knew this was a common phenomenon; I initially thought it was just some weird thing that happens sometimes, so I am glad you helped me be aware of this. This actually happened to me recently with a new person I met and now I am seeing them everywhere in the regular routes I take to go between classes. I have always taken these routes to class but I never noticed the person until after I met them. It is indeed fascinating how our brain works. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI did not know there was a name for this. It is interesting because our minds tend to ignore things we do not know whilst being hyper aware of things we do not know. Both perhaps to prevent our minds from being bombarded with too much information at once. I find it wild when I start registering a name or phrase. Even on a small scale, when I learn that a lyric to a song is different than what I thought it was, the next time I hear the song the lyric sounds so obvious.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi! I have experienced the same feeling before when I notice something I just learned about appear all around my life. However, I have never thought about this phenomenon as reflecting the biases that exist in our memory and your blog really helped me make that connection. I can not recall a specific instance that this experience has occurred since it happens to me so often, but there are many times when I learn a new phrase and hear it used everywhere around me on television or in public. When I hear or see something that I associate a memory with, my brain instantly draws the connection. I think the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is very fascinating and wonder if there is a scientific reason why it occurs. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi! It's great to hear that your sister was able to recover. I've certainly experienced this phenomenon before, and it seemed like such a strange, random thing to happen, but I never thought about how it has to do with biases in our memory. Now that I've read your blog post, the reasoning behind this phenomenon makes much more sense. It makes me think of just how much our minds ignore on a daily basis until we actually get to "know" them. This is such an interesting phenomenon, so I'm glad to have learned how it works.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi, after reading your blog, I realize I have encountered the baader-meinhof phenomenon before, however, I never realized it was an actual thing. I have also realized that it is quite similar to getting deja vu when you get the feeling that you’ve seen a name or reference somewhere else before. It is interesting to know that once something is in your memory, it is acknowledged or brought up when you see something similar to it. Thank you for sharing!
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