I’m not 100% clear on the specific curiosity, as there’s a few questions in there that feel like a broader ponderance rather than a direct inquiry, though I’ll begin answering to this one:

from meta-perspective, why is there a significance to that? Why is it even a thing?

hmmm...

I’m not sure if I’m imagining it was Jason Silva saying something like ‘we see meaning-making machines...’

Personally, I’d say it’s probably not always black or white where there’s always some significance. Perhaps sometimes, there might be; others, not.

I mean, if you were flying in an airplane, there might not really be a whole lot of significance to things falling - that’s just a byproduct of the situational dynamics when you hit turbulence. Though, perhaps there could be a moment where something heavy wasn’t secured properly and would’ve had gone tumbling into the head of a two year-old and given them a concussion, had you not been there at that exact moment to catch it - which might be said to be a bit more significant; and perhaps even more so, had that initiated a conversation with the parent, who you then became good friends with - that small incident becoming a significant moment that changed your life forever. Meanwhile, some other small thing that fell on the floor, not so significant.

As for the cultural saying...

I’d guess that’s something not to be taken so much literally, as something that had taken such a form to convey a general attitude towards life - the deeper wisdom in it having nothing to do with a piece of dish ware, but a principle that may hold merit to live by when a relationship breaks down (but then consequentially leads you to a better one), you get a flat tire (but the avoid a potentially fatal car accident you might’ve had), you get fired from a job (but then end up starting your own successful business, etc. I’d take it to be an alternative twist on the Wheel Of Fortune tarot card - the essence of which is summed up well in that classics Chinese tale about the events spiraling out as a consequence of the “bad luck” of a son falling off a horse.

Anyways... we’ve definitely veered way off topic from this original post. Lol. (No disrespect to @spellmaker - just fulfilling your request for input on the comment.) Hope that’s something valuable to get you started with... ⭐️