The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon aka Frequency Illusion

What is The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon or Frequency Illusion?

Let’s say you notice something that is a novel concept for you. For instance, you heard about this new book, and now all of a sudden you are noticing it all over the place soon after you discover it. Our brain becomes attuned to the frequency and starts noticing it everywhere. The information was always there but, you are detecting it now. You were absolutely oblivion to the existence of this book and then, evidently, it is following you around. It feels like all of a sudden, every other person you meet is talking about that book.  The illusion here is that it is not that everyone has abruptly started to talk about the book, it is just that you have started to detect it.

Frequency Illusion is not entirely a new concept to us as most of us in our daily lives must have experienced it at some point in time, and if not, soon you will. It is just when your awareness of something increases it makes you believe that it’s actually happening more, even if that’s not the case.

Is Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon dangerous?

Frequency Illusion is actually pretty normal but if one suffers from mental disorders like schizophrenia or paranoia then it could prove to be fatal as the frequency bias may persuade one to believe something which is not real and make the symptoms worse.

What causes Frequency Illusion?

We come across a myriad of people, and a plethora of information every single day and it is not possible for our brain to absorb all of this information. Our brain is responsible for deciding which information is significant for us and requires attention, and filtering out the less vital information. When we learn a new thing and that new thing sparks curiosity in us, our brain is most likely to take notice and now you’re hearing it everywhere you go.

Why is it called The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon?

The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon was originally discovered by Terry Mullen, who wrote a letter to a newspaper column wherein he mentioned that he first heard about The Baader-Meinhof group then shortly, with pure coincidence came across this term from a different source. Soon after this article was published, readers started sharing their own personal experiences which were similar to that of Terry’s discovery, and the phenomenon was named the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon.

Use of Frequency Illusion for branding and influencing customers

Suppose you want to buy a car and you research a little bit about the kind of car you want the brand, color, and mileage, etc. Earlier you did not notice it, but now you come to a realization that your neighbor possesses the same car that you were researching about.  Now, in order to increase sales, marketers are using this phenomenon to brand their products and influence customers. By looking for ideal customers, mapping their interests, and curating the content that way, and by keeping the market communication frequent they are able to use the frequency illusion to the best of their benefit.

Conclusion

To sum up, frequency illusion is quite normal and happens due to our brain’s tendency to look for patterns and put less significance on unrelated information.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion

https://www.healthline.com/health/baader-meinhof-phenomenon