Coincidences?

My wife and I were watching the news a few weeks ago when the terrible USA arctic blasts hit the country. The announcer said it was minus forty degrees. My condolences to those affected.

My wife asked if that was the American report in Fahrenheit or a European translation into Celcius. I did a quick calculation and got a surprise.

I checked the calculation on Google and got (°F − 32) × 5/9 = °C (value in Fahrenheit minus thirty-two, then times the result by five over nine).

I was right. Minus 40 °F = minus 40 °C. It’s the only temperature where the two systems give the same value.

My mind turned to other coincidences…

Remember my post about the predominance of apples in myth and legend? (You can find it here.)

(Note: None of the comments below are intended to diminish or undermine the faiths of those who follow any religion.)

Well, here’s another set of “coincidences”

Adam and Eve, the first humans, had two sons. One killed the other.

In the vastly ancient Proto-IndoEuropean creation mythos, the first to appear were twin boys. One killed the other (by agreement) and used the body parts to build the world.

In the foundation of Rome, twin boys Romulus and Remus were set adrift in a basket, to be recovered first by a she-wolf, then raised by a generous farmer. One killed the other in an argument over land.

Likewise, Moses was set adrift in a basket and recovered by an Egyptian princess.

And so we return to King Arthur once again (and why not?), who was handed over to a foster parent as a baby. He also had problems with his half-sister that contributed to his death.

Sibling rivalry and parental abandonment seem prevalent in ancient psychology.

And now we have Princes Harry and William. (No comment.)

So how about some cheer-up reading?

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