Synchronicity refers to a phenomenon when seemingly unrelated events come together and produce a non-random pattern or cause and effect. Or things that seem impossible actually occur and baffle our minds. Carl Jung referred to synchronicity as �meaningful coincidence.� An example may include thinking of a long-lost friend one minute and having them call the very next. Specific events that have allegedly occurred and are used as examples of synchronicity include when John Stott�s car crashed in 1985, was witnessed by a man named Bernard Stott, investigated by a police officer named Tina Stott and filed by desk sergeant Walter Stott! None of the people were apparently related. Another odd story told to provide an example of synchronicity is when in 1900 Italy�s King Umberto I visited a restaurant and was served by a man of the same name. They were both born on the same day, had wives with the same name and birth date as each other, had both been decorated for bravery twice and during the same ceremonies and ended up dying within 24 hours of each other. Now there�s a coincidence! Paranormalists claim that these �impossible� coincidences must have a supernatural origin and that no natural explanation will suffice.
Skeptical Perspective
The stories that are told as examples of synchronicity are highly questionable � especially the more detailed accounts like the one of King Umberto. No original written documents exist and as with the telephone game or �Chinese whispers� the stories have likely been exaggerated and changed through the years. Another useful piece of information that helps explain unusual coincidences like the long-lost friend phone call is the phenomenon of selective memory. It is likely that the person thinks about the friend on several occasions but without a phone call, is unlikely to remember those moments. We remember �hits� much more often than �misses� because we don�t put two and two together and therefore find little meaning in all the memories and thoughts that we have throughout the day that don�t result in an unusual coincidence or event. Probability shows that considering the great number of thoughts and memories we do have, once or twice they will seem to be connected with something else that happens to us at a particular moment and as pattern-seeking animals, we are likely to find the coincidence meaningful and, perhaps, magical.
- Grace Danes (Skeptic) |
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