Synchronicity

Synchronicity () is a concept first introduced by analytical psychologist Carl G. Jung "to describe circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection." Jung held that to ascribe meaning to certain acausal coincidences can be a healthy, even necessary, function of the human mind—principally, by way of bringing important material of the unconscious mind to attention. This further developed into the view that there is a philosophical objectivity or suprasubjectivity to the meaningfulness of such coincidences, as related to the collective unconscious.
During his career, Jung furnished several different definitions of the term, defining "synchronicity" as "a hypothetical factor equal in rank to causality as a principle of explanation", "an acausal connecting principle", "acausal parallelism", and as the "meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved".
Though introducing the concept as early as the 1920s, Jung gave a full statement of it only in 1951 in an Eranos lecture. In 1952, Jung published a paper titled "Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle" () in a volume which also contained a related study by the physicist and Nobel laureate Wolfgang Pauli, a close collaborator who held a "critical, yet constructive and genuinely positive view of Jung and his ideas".
Jung's view was that, just as causal connections can provide a meaningful understanding of the psyche and reality, so too may acausal connections. Events connected by meaning need not have an explanation in terms of causality, which does not generally contradict universal causation but in specific cases can lead to prematurely giving up causal explanation. The three identifying aspects of synchronistic events are (a) meaningful coincidence, (b) acausal connection, and (c) numinosity—the last of which has drawn the most criticism upon the entire concept. Jung similarly proposed three categories of synchronistic phenomena, as when there is either (1) a meaningful correspondence between a mental state and a simultaneous physical event, (2) a meaningful correspondence between a mental state and a physical event outside the individual's perception, or (3) a meaningful correspondence between a mental state and some future event.
Jung used the concept in arguing for the existence of the paranormal, as did writer Arthur Koestler in his 1972 work "The Roots of Coincidence". The concept was similarly taken up by the New Age movement.
However, as it is scientifically neither testable nor falsifiable, synchronicity does not fall into the realm of empirical study. The main objection from a scientific standpoint is that synchronistic events are experimentally indistinguishable from ordinary coincidences. While a given observer may subjectively view a coincidence as meaningful, this does not necessitate assigning any objective meaning to the coincidence. Jung however, believed that meaning could be as rigorous and objective as logical thought by looking past personal feelings and instead to psychological elements that are held in common, yet he did not conduct objective studies in this regard based on observable mental states and scientific data. Mainstream science explains synchronicities and mere coincidences alike as underestimated chance events or spurious correlations which can be described by laws of statistics (e.g. by the law of truly large numbers) and confirmation biases. However, for lack of more sophisticated explanations coincidence can also be useful as kind of link to folk psychology and philosophy.
Moreover, it is considered that multiple meaningful coincidences contribute to the early formation of schizophrenic delusions . Distinguishing which of these synchronicities can be morbid, according to Jung, is a matter of interpretation–pathology, if any, lies in the reaction rather than the occurrence of synchronistic experiences. The "International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis" states that "it is important that the individual grasp [the] compensatory meaning" of a synchronistic event, in order for it to "enhance consciousness rather than merely build up superstitiousness".
Origins.
Jung coined the term "synchroncity" as part of a lecture in May 1930, at first for use in discussing Chinese religious and philosophical concepts. His first major outline of the principle itself, however, was not until an Eranos conference lecture in 1951. This was soon followed by his monograph on the subject, "Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle", published in 1952. Despite this, the roots of the concept formed part of his earlier work in the 1920s. Jung drew upon Chinese philosophy as well as the philosophies of Gottfried Leibniz, Johannes Kepler, and Arthur Schopenhauer. He points to Schopenhauer as providing an early conception of synchronicity in the quote: 
Other notable precursors and influences can be found in the theological concept of correspondences, sympathetic magic, Chinese classic texts, Taoist concepts, divination, Leibnizian monadology, astrology, and alchemy.
Analytical psychology.
In analytical psychology, the recognition of seemingly-meaningful coincidences is a mechanism by which unconscious material is brought to the attention of the conscious mind. A harmful or developmental outcome can then result only from the individual's response to such material. Jung proposed that the concept could have psychiatric use in mitigating the negative effects of over-rationalisation and proclivities towards mind–body dualism.
Analytical psychology considers modern modes of thought to rest upon the pre-modern and primordial structures of the psyche. Causal connections thus form the basis of modern worldviews, and connections which lacks causal reasoning are seen as . This chance-based interpretation, however, is incongruent with the primordial mind which instead interprets this category as . The primordial framework in fact places emphasis on these connections, just as the modern framework emphasizes causal ones. In this regard, causality, like synchronicity, is a human interpretation imposed onto external phenomena. Primordial modes of thought are however, according to Jung, necessary constituents of the modern psyche that inevitably protrude into modern life—providing the basis for meaningful interpretation of the world by way of meaning-based connections. Just as the principles of psychological causality provide meaningful understanding of causal connections, so too the principle of synchronicity attempts to provide meaningful understanding of acasual connections. Jung placed synchronicity as one of three main conceptual elements in understanding the psyche:
Jung felt synchronicity to be a principle that had explanatory power towards his concepts of archetypes and the collective unconscious. It described a governing dynamic which underlies the whole of human experience and history—social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. The emergence of the synchronistic paradigm was a significant move away from Cartesian dualism towards an underlying philosophy of double-aspect theory. Some argue this shift was essential in bringing theoretical coherence to Jung's earlier work.
Philosophy of science.
Jung held that there was both a philosophical and scientific basis for synchronicity. He identified the complementary nature of causality and acausality with Eastern sciences and protoscientific disciplines, stating "the East bases much of its science on this irregularity and considers coincidences as the reliable basis of the world rather than causality. Synchronism is the prejudice of the East; causality is the modern prejudice of the West". Contemporary scholar L. K. Kerr writes: 
It is also pointed out that, since Jung took into consideration only the narrow definition of causality—only the efficient cause—his notion of "acausality" is also narrow and so is not applicable to final and formal causes as understood in Aristotelian or Thomist systems. Either the final causality is inherent in synchronicity, as it leads to individuation; or synchronicity can be a kind of replacement for final causality. However, such finalism or teleology is considered to be outside the domain of modern science.
Paranormal.
Jung's use of the concept in arguing for the existence of paranormal phenomena has been widely considered pseudoscientific by modern scientific scepticism. Furthermore, his collaborator Wolfgang Pauli objected to his dubious experiments of the concept involving astrology—which Jung believed to be supported by the laboratory experiments behind the uncertainty principle's formulation. Jung similarly turned to the works of parapsychologist Joseph B. Rhine to support a connection between synchronicity and the paranormal. In his book "", Jung wrote:How are we to recognize acausal combinations of events, since it is obviously impossible to examine all chance happenings for their causality? The answer to this is that acausal events may be expected most readily where, on closer reflection, a causal connection appears to be inconceivable.…
It is impossible, with our present resources, to explain ESP [extrasensory perception], or the fact of meaningful coincidence, as a phenomenon of energy. This makes an end of the causal explanation as well, for "effect" cannot be understood as anything except a phenomenon of energy. Therefore it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity. Because of this quality of simultaneity, I have picked on the term "synchronicity" to designate a hypothetical factor equal in rank to causality as a principle of explanation.Roderick Main, in the introduction to his 1997 book "Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal", wrote:
Examples.
Jung tells the following story as an example of a synchronistic event in his book "Synchronicity":
French writer Émile Deschamps claims in his memoirs that, in 1805, he was treated to some plum pudding by a stranger named Monsieur de Fontgibu. Ten years later, the writer encountered plum pudding on the menu of a Paris restaurant and wanted to order some, but the waiter told him that the last dish had already been served to another customer, who turned out to be de Fontgibu. Many years later, in 1832, Deschamps was at a dinner and once again ordered plum pudding. He recalled the earlier incident and told his friends that only de Fontgibu was missing to make the setting complete—and in the same instant, the now-senile de Fontgibu entered the room, having got the wrong address.
After describing some examples, Jung wrote: "When coincidences pile up in this way, one cannot help being impressed by them – for the greater the number of terms in such a series, or the more unusual its character, the more improbable it becomes."
In his book "Thirty Years That Shook Physics – The Story of Quantum Theory" (1966), George Gamow writes about Wolfgang Pauli, who was apparently considered a person particularly associated with synchronicity events. Gamow whimsically refers to the "Pauli effect", a mysterious phenomenon which is not understood on a purely materialistic basis, and probably never will be. The following anecdote is told:
Explanations.
Jung's theory of "synchronicity" is nowadays regarded as pseudoscientific, as it is not based on experimental evidence, and its explananda are easily accounted for by our current understanding of probability theory and human psychology.
Jungian explanation.
Jung believed life was not a series of random events but rather an expression of a deeper order, which he and Pauli referred to as "Unus mundus". This deeper order led to the insights that a person was both embedded in a universal wholeness and that the realisation of this was more than just an intellectual exercise, but also had elements of a spiritual awakening. From the religious perspective, synchronicity shares similar characteristics of an "intervention of grace". Jung also believed that in a person's life, synchronicity served a role similar to that of dreams, with the purpose of shifting a person's egocentric conscious thinking to greater wholeness.
Mathematics and statistics.
Jung and his followers (e.g., Marie-Louise von Franz) share in common the belief that numbers are the archetypes of order, and the major participants in synchronicity creation. This hypothesis has implications that are relevant to some of the “chaotic” phenomena in nonlinear dynamics. Dynamical systems theory has provided a new context from which to speculate about synchronicity because it gives predictions about the transitions between emergent states of order and nonlocality. This view, however, is not part of mainstream mathematical thought.
Mainstream mathematics argues that statistics and probability theory (exemplified in, e.g., Littlewood's law or the law of truly large numbers) suffice to explain any purported synchronistic events as mere coincidences. The law of truly large numbers, for instance, states that in large enough populations, any strange event is arbitrarily likely to happen by mere chance. However, some proponents of synchronicity question whether it is even sensible in principle to try to evaluate synchronicity statistically. Jung himself and von Franz argued that statistics work precisely by ignoring what is unique about the individual case, whereas synchronicity tries to investigate that uniqueness.
Social and behavioural science.
In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias is a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, and avoids information and interpretations that contradict prior beliefs. It is a type of cognitive bias and represents an error of inductive inference, or is a form of selection bias toward confirmation of the hypothesis under study, or disconfirmation of an alternative hypothesis. Confirmation bias is of interest in the teaching of critical thinking, as the skill is misused if rigorous critical scrutiny is applied only to evidence that challenges a preconceived idea, but not to evidence that supports it.
Charles Tart sees danger in synchronistic thinking: "This danger is the temptation to mental laziness.… [I]t would be very tempting to say, 'Well, it's synchronistic, it's forever beyond my understanding,' and so (prematurely) give up trying to find a causal explanation."
Upon initial publication, the work of Jung, such as "The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche", were received as problematic by his fellow psychologists. Fritz Levi, in his 1952 "Neue Schweizer Rundschau" (New Swiss Observations) review, critiqued Jung's theory of synchronicity as vague in determinability of synchronistic events, saying that Jung never specifically explained his rejection of "magic causality" to which such an acausal principle as synchronicity would be related. He also questioned the theory's usefulness.
Apophenia.
In psychology and sociology, the term "apophenia" is used for the mistaken detection of a pattern or meaning in random or meaningless data. 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.
A famous example of this is the fact that human-face recognition is so robust, and based on such a basic archetype (i.e., two dots and a line contained in a circle), that human beings are very prone to identify faces in random data all through their environment, like the "man in the moon", or faces in wood grain, an example of the visual form of apophenia known as "pareidolia".
Religion.
Many people believe that the Universe, angels, other spirits, or God cause synchronicity. Among the general public, divine intervention is the most widely accepted explanation for these meaningful coincidences.
Research.
Research on the processes and effects of synchronicity is a subfield of psychological study. Modern scientific techniques, such as mathematical modeling, were used to observe chance correlations of synchronicities with Fibonacci time patterns.
As far as methodology is concerned, all empirical methods can be used to study synchronicity scientifically: quantitative, qualitative, and combination methods. Most studies of synchronicity, however, have been limited to qualitative approaches, which tend to collect data expressed in non-mathematical representations such as descriptions, placing less focus on estimating the strength and form of relationships.
A survey (with 226 respondents) of the frequency of synchronicity in clinical settings found that 44% of therapists reported synchronicity experiences in the therapeutic setting; and 67% felt that synchronicity experiences could be useful for therapy. The study also points out ways of explanations of synchronicity: 
Publications.
Cultural references.
Philip K. Dick makes reference to, "Pauli's synchronicity", in his 1963 science-fiction novel, "The Game-Players of Titan", in reference to pre-cognitive psionic abilities being interfered with by other psionic abilities such as psychokinesis: "an acausal connective event".
Robert Anton Wilson covers the topic in his 1988 book "Coincidance: A Head Test".
George Sourrys' 2021 novel The Synchronicity of Ulysses delves into the concept of synchronicity very deeply. In this novel he even explains what causes synchronicity, as part of the novel's overarching Theory of Everything. 