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synchronicity
August 2008 
On Synchronicity
Posted on Jun 26th, 2008
by 
MrTeacup
MrTeacup
Reading "The Power of Coincidence" from Psychology Today:
One thing that always strikes me about claims of synchronicity is how content-free they are. From the article, Elizabeth Targ died at 11:11pm, 111 days after she was diagnosed. I have a friend who sees the sequence 0-1-2-3 everywhere she goes. Accepting for a moment that any of these examples are more than just coincidences, that they are meaningful: what, in the end, do they mean?
Jung believed the existence of synchronicity demonstrated the validity of the collective unconscious, but it could be used to support virtually any spiritual, religious, metaphysical or psychological theory - UFOs, law of attraction, I Ching, faith healing, etc. Since we still need other methods to validate our theories, its hard to see what synchronicity offers here.
On a more personal level, it's claimed that synchronicity is a signpost that indicates when one's actions are aligned with God's plan - a kind of cosmic seal of approval. If so, I would expect people who frequently experience synchronicity to be more successful, more effective, more creative, more world-changing and more spiritual (however you define that) than most people. A person like this might even be a modern-day prophet and I would think that these individuals would be able to make enormous strides in solving the many crises that our world faces today.
As far as I can tell, this is not the case. In the end, if synchronicity is real, the thing that's most extraordinary is how much like the rest of us its adherents are.
One thing that always strikes me about claims of synchronicity is how content-free they are. From the article, Elizabeth Targ died at 11:11pm, 111 days after she was diagnosed. I have a friend who sees the sequence 0-1-2-3 everywhere she goes. Accepting for a moment that any of these examples are more than just coincidences, that they are meaningful: what, in the end, do they mean?
Jung believed the existence of synchronicity demonstrated the validity of the collective unconscious, but it could be used to support virtually any spiritual, religious, metaphysical or psychological theory - UFOs, law of attraction, I Ching, faith healing, etc. Since we still need other methods to validate our theories, its hard to see what synchronicity offers here.
On a more personal level, it's claimed that synchronicity is a signpost that indicates when one's actions are aligned with God's plan - a kind of cosmic seal of approval. If so, I would expect people who frequently experience synchronicity to be more successful, more effective, more creative, more world-changing and more spiritual (however you define that) than most people. A person like this might even be a modern-day prophet and I would think that these individuals would be able to make enormous strides in solving the many crises that our world faces today.
As far as I can tell, this is not the case. In the end, if synchronicity is real, the thing that's most extraordinary is how much like the rest of us its adherents are.
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for me, sychronicity must be lived in the moment; it's awe experienced in the movement of real life…it cannot be explained, b/c once you start trying to explain it, it is lost, it becomes just another 'idea' floating around in a cloud…sychronicity is in allowing the universe to unfold…and dancing in harmony with it…much joy mike…always, star…