the law of truly large numbers (a statistical adage), attributed to persi diaconis and frederick mosteller, states that with a large enough number of samples, any outrageous (i.e. unlikely in any single sample) thing is likely to be observed. because we never find it notable when likely events occur, we highlight unlikely events and notice them more. the law is often used to falsify different pseudo-scientific claims, as such it and its use is sometimes criticized by fringe scientists.