love@mhuxr.UUCP (LINDENBERGER) (03/03/86)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** My personal experience, and that of a few friends, has convinced me that the phenomenon I call Hypercoincidental Juxtapositional Syndrome, or HJS for short, is real. This is a request for additional data. HJS is experienced by all who use roads. It is the driving force that causes us to find ourselves at intersections, at sharp curves, at narrow bridges, etc. at the same time as other people arrive at that location, typically from opposite directions. It is most prevelant when one of the parties involved is on a bicycle. It occurs at a frequency that is way beyond simple coincidence, even allowing for the fact that more time is spent at those locations, because we have to slow down there. More often than one would believe, I have passed cyclists in the opposite direction on a road, just as (at least) one car passes between us. I have traveled down long stretches of empty road only to have a car go zooming by me at the only narrow bridge there. It is difficult to have a solid statistical base to support this claim. I don't care to count the number of cars and bikes I pass on all my rides. Any comments or observations along this line would be appreciated. The underlying mechanism of this 'syndrome' may indeed provide far reaching insight into one portion of human behavior. Stew Lindenberger AT&T Bell Labs Murray Hill NJ mhuxr!love