Synchronicity: Does It Exist? by Cindie Harper

Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events as meaningfully related, where they are unlikely to be causally related. The subject sees it as a meaningful coincidence. The concept of synchronicity was first described by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist, in the 1920s. (Tarnas, 2006).

The concept does not question, or compete with, the notion of causality. It maintains that just as events may be connected by a causal line, they may also be connected by meaning. A grouping of events connected by meaning need not have an explanation in terms of a concrete sense of cause and effect.

Critics reluctant to invest any meaning in the idea of synchronicity itself assert that causality, statistics and probability suffice to explain the co-occurrence of such events, (Lane & Lane, 2010) deeming them mere normal events of low probability.(McFadden)

Jung became convinced that everything in the universe is intimately connected, and that suggested to him that there must exist a collective unconscious of humankind. This implied to him that events happening all over the world at the same time must be connected in some unknown way.

In The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, Jung describes how, during his research into the phenomenon of the collective unconscious, he began to observe coincidences that were connected in such a meaningful way that their occurrence seemed to defy the calculations of probability. He provided numerous examples culled from his own psychiatric case-studies, many now legendary.

For most mainstream scientists, experiences like this are just a result of that which is possible. Some believe that synchronicity is the result of a well-known psychological phenomenon called confirmation bias which is basically the idea that we much more easily notice and remember things that confirm our beliefs than those that do not. (Van Gelder)

Likewise, in psychology and sociology, the term apophenia is used for the apparent detection of a pattern or meaning in random or meaningless data. (Brugger) Skeptics, such as Robert Todd Carroll of the Skeptic's Dictionary, argue that the perception of synchronicity is better explained as apophenia. Primates use pattern detection in their form of intelligence, and this can lead to erroneous identification of non-existent patterns. (Carroll, 1994)

It seems that probability is the biggest argument against synchronicity in the scientific world.  This argument states that every synchronistic event that we experience can be explained by pure chance. The frequency approach basically explains how likely something is to occur based on how many times it has already occurred.  However,  when synchronistic events occur but have never happened before, determining probability becomes impossible.

One of the most distinctive features of synchronicity is meaning.  Meaning is able to take a simple coincidence and makes it life changing.  Meaning is beyond the grasp of probability or mathematics. It does not matter if a synchronicity is a sign of a divine universal order  brought to us by a higher power or a mere coincidence. What matters is whether or not we believe that it is. It is our belief that determines the significance of the synchronicity.

Many scientists argue that the Universe is simultaneously random and ordered.  Where does the randomness come from and how does it acquire order? Regardless of whether or not we are the creators of the order, or we just choose to see the order and synchronicity instead of chaos, it is there. Therefore it does exist. 

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Cindie Harper is a paranormal investigator and Founder of Femme Force. Cindie has a Master of Social Work degree from West Virginia University and is also a certified Reiki Master Teacher.  Cindie is an intuitive and believes in embracing the unknown. She is interested in most things paranormal, spiritual, creepy or spooky.

You can find Cindie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/femmeforce

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Femme-Force/251139875064663

Website: WWW.FEMMEFORCE.ORG

Twitter: @thefemmeforce

Sources and References:

Brugger, Peter. "From Haunted Brain to Haunted Science: A Cognitive Neuroscience View of Paranormal and Pseudoscientific Thought," Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, edited by J. Houran and R. Lange (North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 2001).

Carroll, Robert Todd (1994). The Skeptic's Dictionary

David Lane & Andrea Diem Lane, 2010, DESULTORY DECUSSATION Where Littlewood’s Law of Miracles meets Jung’s Synchronicity, www.integralworld.net

Jung, C. G., Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal

Jung, C.G. (1970). Structure & Dynamics of the Psyche, Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 1, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

McFadden, Dr. Dennis, Unlikely Events and Coincidence, International Cultic Studies Association

Tarnas, Richard (2006). Cosmos and Psyche. New York: Penguin Group.

Van Gelder, Tim, "Heads I win, tails you lose": A Foray Into the Psychology of Philosophy