As concidências nos fascinam e embora muitas delas pareçam estranhas, alguns psicólogos dizem que há uma explicação plausível para cada uma delas. Eles também ressaltam que as coincidências podem ser explicadas pela matemática da probabilidade.

Tomemos por exemplo os destinos dos presidentes americanos Abraham Lincoln e John F. Kennedy, que foram ligados por uma série de estranhas coincidências. Leia o texto abaixo, adaptado do livro Password Special Edition, de Amadeu Marques. Preste atenção também no uso da voz passiva.

An Amazing String of Coincidences

1. Lincoln was first elected to Congress in 1846. Kennedy followed exactly 100 years later.

2. Lincoln was elected President in 1860. Kennedy was elected president in 1960.

3. Lincoln had a secretary whose name was Kennedy. Kennedy’s secretary was Evelyn Lincoln.

4. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated by Southerners.

5. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Their names were Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson.

6. Lincoln’s successor Andrew Johnson was born in 1808. He was a Southern Democrat and a member of the Senate. Kennedy’s successor Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908. He also was a Southern Democrat and a Senator.

7. Both Lincoln’s and Kennedy’s assassins were known by three names. The names of both assassins contain 15 letters each.

8. John Wilkes Booth, the man who killed Lincoln, was born in 1839, while Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy’s killer, was born in 1939. Both assassins were shot before they came to trial.

9. Booth committed his crime in a theater and then ran to a barn. Oswald pulled the trigger on Kennedy from the window of a warehouse – and ran to a theater.

10. Lincoln and Kennedy were both shot on a Friday, in the back of the head. Their wives were with them.

11. Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theater. Kennedy was shot in a car made by the Ford Motor Company – a Lincoln.

Do you believe in coincidences? If so, would you like to share some stories with us?