In this world
borderline magic
coincidences may be experienced.
…
“I was just thinking of you when you sent me the text.” [1]
“I was Googling my name and then this crazy picture of my favorite X comes up…” [2]
“I literally just checked her profile and then she wrote…” [3]
…
Modeling this world as a network. The number of connections is constantly growing. The speed is increasing. There are more interactions happening now than the moment before and they are also faster.
But it’s not only the number of connections and speed that are increasing. The agents within the network are unified into tightly-knit communities. The online recommendation algorithms ensure that we only see things that belong to our close circle, so the “filter bubbles” are formed. We see only things that those we interact with more often see. And we interact more often with those who see the same things as we see.
What happens in this new world is that the number of coincidences increases.
This happens because the density is higher. So the proportion of things happening at the same time for no particular reason also increases. The bubble is working day and night to ensure that magic exists because this is the way it grows and becomes stronger.
Some samples taken from reality:
1) I was just feeling the spike in the Ghz waves of my phone and thought it must be you because I think about you a lot and then the text message from you arrived.
2) I was Googling my name and as I was logged in, Google has all my search history and all my browsing history (through Google+ and analytics modules installed on almost every website). In order to increase the probability that I like its search results, Google’s recommendation algorithm showed me the picture of X, which is very much related to what I’ve searched for / looked at before.
3) When I checked her profile on Facebook, it detected the visit and popped up an instant chat window for her even though I didn’t write anything. The recommendation algorithm figured that it was a good moment for us to talk, so it popped up an Instant Chat window for both of us. She saw it appear and said “Hi”.
…
Notes to oneself:
Getting used to this.
Starting to look for it in the real.
Finding it.
Keeping on going…
Finding a bit more.
Getting used that it’s out there, tangible, within a reach.
Demanding it even when it’s not there anymore.
…
Superstition is to observe from above. When you look long enough, something is bound to happen. Coincidences or not, digital superstition is transforming the world from something defined by time and space to something defined by time only. And if time is what prevents history from happening at once, then the more parallel timelines exist, the more magical accidents there will be.
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