Coincidences attract our attention because they seem weird, odd, or unlikely. Their improbability stimulates wonder—“what are the odds of this happening?” Probability theory, which is a branch of mathematics, promises to shed light on this defining aspect of meaningful coincidences.
Carrying this banner, I valiantly strode forward into probability’s thicket of mathematical concepts and formulas and emerged to write a report. My confidence was bolstered by having gotten a Double A in a probability theory seminar at Swarthmore College.
Here’s what I found in the thicket…