Dr. E’s Theory of Longevity

What are the chances that coincidences are purposefully designed?

Is there such a thing as UWW?

Is there more into the expression “someone’s ears must have been burning” than pure coincidence?

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were speaking with our handyperson about the pros and cons of replacing versus painting one of our bathroom vanities. Interestingly a few minutes later my iPhone showed me a short video ad about painting pinewood color kitchen cabinets and making them black or white to give them a more contemporary look! 

Did this surprise me? Not at all! Why? Because I was already aware that almost all voice-activated electronic technologies are triggered when certain “wake- or trigger words”, or pre-programmed phrases that are meant to activate them are uttered. Many of us might have already seen how certain wake phrases such as “hey Google”, “hey Siri”, or “Alexa”, when spoken, awaken our electronic devices to respond to our commands. Did that day any of us accidentally utter a signal word to prompt my iPhone to show me that videoclip? All I can say is that I can’t recall! Was it my iPhone that has been listening to our conversations and reacting to them? Was it my permissive past ambivalent behavior that allowed my iPhone to show me that videoclip? Maybe! Whatever the reason, that video helped my wife and I to make up our minds! As it turned out, we painted the vanity, and saved much agony, money, and time in that process! 

About Coincidences…

All of us must have experienced so many coincidences in our lives that we might have brushed them off as pure accidents! All of us may recall instances that we had to tell someone, or someone telling us: “your ears must have been burning (or ringing)”! For a long time, I have been trying to come-up with some sort of empiric, or as some may like to call it… scientific, explanations, for them! For instance, I have been convincing myself that the reason that I have been thinking about a person and then a few minutes later I run into him in a grocery store is that I might have already spotted him a few minutes earlier in my peripheral visual field without consciously paying any attention to him as at the time my mind might have been busy with certain other matters! However, that subliminal image of his sight might have brought the thoughts of him to my consciousness while I have been doing my shopping activities… and then… as I am about to turn into the next grocery store aisle… boom… I ran into him! Ooh mine … “I was just thinking about you… such a small world…, and so on! It appears that what I cited as an example, was easy to explain scientifically! You may wonder what explanation I may have for so many other instances that I couldn’t come up with any rational explanations for them? Honestly, so far, I have been labeling most of them as pure coincidences!

The Heavens Must Have Ears!

About 3 weeks ago, and while I was entertaining writing this blog, I called one of my cousins whom I had not been in touch with for several months, with a specific inquiry! To my surprise he answered my call by stating: we were just talking about you… your ears must be ringing! That coincidence reminded me to tell him a story related to his older brother that has always intrigued me!

Here is the story: During October of 1998 I traveled to San Francisco for a 6-day family vacation. The reason for the trip was the wedding of one of my wife’s nieces. So, as you can tell the trip was meant to be more than just a vacation. As we were about to touch down in San Francisco airport, it occurred to me that it may be a great idea, if after adjusting to my surroundings, I make efforts to see the older brother of my cousin for catching up, or even meeting over a coffee or whatever we decide to do! At the time my cousin, the older of the two brothers, used to live in Sausalito, which is located on the northern side of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco!