J-Coby W
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Coincidence or synchronicity?
After attending a recent Brian Greene lecture on "The Elegant Universe", I revisited a question I ponder often. Do you believe unusual connections are coincidence or synchronicity? What types of experiences like this have you had? Did they change your philosophy on life or your frameworks for understanding existence?
Answers (8)
Greg L
ProActive PC Support & Training <> http://LauverSystems.com/ <> Computing Made Easy • Durango
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Coincidence is the merchant's view of an accidental, mechanical universe. Synchronicity is that merchant's way of saying he met a philospher who caused him to speculate on an alternate view, but neither to seriously doubt his previous conviction nor to acquire a new one.
The new one would be that the universe, and all of its great and small components, exist, and are driven by, pure Intent. If he becomes convinced of this, then coincidence becomes an impossibility, and synchronicity becomes unnecessary chatter.
The nature of such conviction is not intellectual or even emotional. It is visceral, bodily knowledge - the same absolute certainty one has that the ground will hold him up on his next step.
There's a sign on some country roads that I find humorous, "Hill blocks view". That's reassuring, because if it didn't ...?
Since I tend to be asIeep as much as anyone else, I use unusual connections as one kind of alarm clock - time to pay attention. But what changed my views and eliminated my frameworks was pure hard work and perserverance. Without this, those "unusual connections" would have been no more than idle curiosities.
Suhasini S
Business Unit Head at Zeta Intelex, the LPO Division of Zeta Softech Pvt. Ltd.
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Synchronicity.
There is nothing arbitrary about the Universe, it does not enjoy enough importance to be granted arbitrariness. The Universe is merely base matter, clay, dust, putty and smoke.
It is directed by Will, and works on Cause & Effect rules, within the context of Purpose.
Cheryl R
President at Cheryl Roshak Associates
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This is a profound question that requires more space than I think one can write here. A definition of coincidence is, for example, is: the coming together or simultaneous occurrence or existence of things or events <the coincidence of the last note of the violin with the sound of the bell>. To me that means that things can just happen at times simultaneously for no explained reason but that they do.
Synchronicity has much deeper implications, philosophically. According to Merriam-Webster: the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality -- used especially in the psychology of C.G. Jung. I just want to make clear what we're speaking of here and the difference between the two concepts.
There is room for both in this world but I do believe in synchronicity as the more powerful and meaning experience as it involves enlightenment of the individual who experiences the synchronicity. Two women wearing the same dress at an event is a coincidence. A premonition that some person will be at the event who will change the course of your life and indeed this does occur is a synchronicity.
I often have synchronicity experiences, perhaps I am open to them or are wired as such, but I don't think they change my philosophy of life but they enlighten me usually on some issue that I may be working on, or fill in a piece of the jigsaw puzzle we call life. Or existence as you call it. I wish at this hour of the morning I could come up with one as an example but I have worked with a great advocator of synchronicity, Dr. Gibbs Williams, who has spent years studying this phenomenon and his book on this subject will be coming out in January, 2010. I'll post the link to his website below.
I think we are all interconnected in some way and that there are meaningful experiences that take place all the time if we are open to them that can't be explained by normal cause and effect. I don't wish to come off as some spiritual nut case, as I'm not. But the universe is quite powerful. Existence is something we all have to make sense of for ourselves or we remain in chaos. Very interesting question.
Links:
I prefer to interpret the world in terms of synchronicity. This interpretation suggests that there is 'design' in everything, even in the mundane incidents of the world.
I believe there is synchronicity in everything, even though we are not always able to notice it or understand it. However when we do notice it, we may call it coincidence or synchronicity. When we can understand it, we may just call it synchronicity.
In this reality, I enjoy the benefit of non-resistance of what has happened and what may happen. So I'm left with embracing the present.
Most of the time, I don't notice it or understand it, but I believe in it, to enjoy the benefits it has to offer.
Mind loves to search for patterns, and then tries to relate it to past memories and current perceptions, which all are again based on past experiences. Time it what keeps two events (coincidental or synchronous) separate.
If you try to understand theory of homing pigeons, first it looks like coincidence, if you read more research it's synchronicity, more reading on the subject will further change your perceptions about it but not the theory.
Finding some order in the chaos.
Kevin H
Total Success Teams / New Eras Media
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We were not put into this universe to dream our wishes into fruition, but to cause them to come to fruition by continual learning and growth.
Insanity is believing something without reason. Many are insane: God or the universe does not tip over the roll of the dice in our favor. It would defeat the purpose of living if we could wish things into existence.
Even many of the people quoted as supporting the Law of Attraction fully believe that it is "99% persperation and 1%" inspiration.
However, their exists some sort of conscious layer to this universe
I have had one very significant precognitive dream that flies against the odds but is not conclusive. So has a close relative. Weak psychic links are a possible consideration. Purely by coincidence 4 of my skeptical friends have had out of body experiences (3 auto accidents and childhood molestation disassociation). Carl Sagan, skeptical as he was, wondered why children seemed to have evidence-supported spontaneous past-life recollections.
But here's the deal: If we simply wished things into existence we would never grow. We would sit around eating grapes all day. There has been a gentle but firm backlash against the message of The Secret amongst personal growth speakers and writers.
Regarding quantum randomness, it is possible there is a certain amount of randomness.
The people who have changed the world--discoveries, medical discoveries, businesses, movies, products, political ideas, authors of The Secret--were doers. They envisioned what they wanted, quite clearly. Then they acted to obtain it and got it via positive relationships.
But somehow there is a conscious dimension to this universe that is not described by length, height, width, or motion. Also, if we keep on the same course we will see things that serve our needs. Buy a blue truck and you will notice all the others of the same brand. If we are always positive we will see ways to make things more positive. If we are loving, people will be attracted to us and aid us in our dreams.
So, we are in a cause and effect game, life. It would not be fun, educational, or actualizing if it were not cause and effect. And in this game, we are conscious players, and this conscious dimension is the thing we understand the least, but it is not there to circumvent the rules of the game.
So, let's take two rooms and see if we can move a toy. In one lets have 100 people try to psychically move it. In another let's simply put a child.
Judith A
Research Program Specialist at State of California
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I prefer to consider them serenditipitous and they often have functioned to affirm a major decision I made.
Indira C
Banking Professional
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Coincidence....
