You know when you learn a new word? And then suddenly it's following you everywhere and coming up in every. Single. Conversation? 

Yeah, me too. 

Or you learn about the concept behind a certain word, and then suddenly everyone seems to be talking about it?

Yeah, it happens to me all the time.

I’ve been wondering if it's only me, or if this occurred in the general population.

Turns out, it is an actual phenomenon called the Baader-Meinhof complex. This phenomenon (or complex) is not just specific to words, it includes other things, like a recently discovered song, or a recently discovered fact, or even just new information. 

Sticking with words though, one experiences the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, also known as “selective attention bias,” when learning a new word that suddenly begins to stick in their brain. You begin to pay more attention to the word and pick it up out of conversations. 

So why does our brain do this?

Well it's pretty simple if you think about it. When you learn a new word, especially if you find the word particularly interesting, you will take notice of it in everyday life. It's actually not there anymore than it is any other day, you’re just more aware of the new word. On average a person hears about 20,000 to 30,000 words a day, so it's no wonder your brain doesn't remember every single one of them. 

In general, this phenomenon has two parts. Arnold M. Zwicky, in a paper called “Why are we so Alluded” from Stanford university in 2006, said the two parts involved are the “selective attention” and “confirmation bias”. The first is when you are listening only for information that interests you, and the second is when you are only keeping the information that supports your interest. 

Overall this phenomenon plays a huge role in our lives even if we don't know it, and now you’ll most likely hear about this phenomenon everywhere.

ELIJAH BAAY ‘22 (THEY/THEM)

Elijah is a junior day student. They love reading fiction and love baking. They have two dogs and a brother, and love writing, fictional or otherwise. They also like drawing in their spare time.

Contact Elijah at madi.baay@indiansprings.org