Whenever we’re on Coast to Coast, host George Noory seems to find an overall theme that defines the show. For our latest appearance on February 7, the theme came in the form of a question: what’s the source of synchronicity?
It’s one of those questions that has different answers, depending on your cultural, spiritual, and ethnic background as well as your beliefs about the way life works. Some of us believe synchronicity has a divine source. The book God Winks explores this in depth. Richard Tarnas, in his brilliant book Cosmos and Psyche, seems to lean toward the power of the unconscious to mold reality. Deirdre Bair, in her biography, Jung, doesn’t conclude; she reports. In the law of attraction, synchronicity is what you attract according to your beliefs thoughts, emotions.
Quantum physics might provide one possible answer through the work of David Bohm. He theorized that our external reality – the explicate order – is the result of an unfolding from the implicate or enfolded order, that births everything in the universe, even space and time. In this construct, then, synchronicity exists at the border between the two, so it’s our most accessible path to knowledge and insight.
But Noory always came back to his central question: where does it come from? Who or what orchestrates events that often involve incredible odds?
Over the years, Rob and I have debated this question, argued about it, come up with various explanations, none of which really suffice. And maybe that’s the point. Maybe the source of synchronicity is ultimately unknowable. If you’re a religious type, then it’s God, winking at you, signaling all systems go. If you’re not religious, maybe the quantum idea fits. Or the power of the psyche, emotions, beliefs.
But perhaps the truth is that reality is much different than what we’ve been taught. Maybe we really do live in a kind of matrix of illusion, where consensus reality stifles self-expression, so we become the deniers, the skeptics, the naysayers. That route is easier, less encumbered, we don’t have to think about stuff. No dots to connect.
But this approach falls short, too.
“Maybe synchronicity is the umbrella for paranormal events that occur spontaneously.” Rob said at one point after the show. “In that scenario, remote-viewing wouldn’t fall under the synchronicity umbrella because it’s controlled, consciously directed.” But if that’s true, why does divination in the Jungian scheme of things, fall under synchronicity? Every divination system, from the tarot to tea leaves to astrology and the I Ching, is a consciously directed activity where you ask a question and the system you’re using provides an answer.
In the end, we’re back at ground zero. Where does synchronicity come from? We would love to hear your thoughts!
In the service of a rational explanation of the process which eventuates in a synchronicity I offer the following. The results of my fifty -year investigation of what often seem to be ‘amazing’ synchronistic events is that many -perhaps not all -are the result of a given person’s idiosyncratic creative process. Synchronicities first start out in the context of a person experiencing a seemingly unsolvable problem. If the attitude to the ‘stuckness’ is not giving up the search for an adequate solution this determination will stimulate a person’s creative process. The creative process is akin to a psychological treasure hunt in which ‘clues’ are sought. Clues in this view are like pieces of a complex multi-dimensional jig saw puzzle. When the clues (pieces of the puzzle) are found andfitted together they will eventually form a recognizeable pattern. The pattern is experienced as a synchronicity which when interpreted is the answer to the original problem.
Thanks, Gibbs!
Here’s how skeptic Benjamin Redford (Skeptical Inquirer) responds to this question about the nature of synchronicity. “Synchronicity is an interesting philosophical idea; unfortunately there is no evidence that it actually exists. It is not surprising that synchronicity — like many ideas of Jung and his colleague Sigmund Freud — have not been proven. Even the famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test, which was based in part on Jung’s work, has been widely challenged as invalid and unscientific. A century ago when Jung came up with the idea of synchronicity, it seemed to be an exciting, cutting-edge theory. Unfortunately for Jung, it is one of many fruitless quasi-scientific ideas in history that has not stood the test of time.”
All matter is 99.99999% energy, Synchronicity is a glimpse into the operation system of the Unified Field, a holographic representation of material existence as frequencies interacting. Each individual is at a different “place” in the structure observing it uniquely from our own perspective, until you get a flash of recognition that we are part of a larger Intelligent interconnection and a world of wonder opens up, fun stuff!! Peace
Love that explanation! It goes along with David Bohm’s implicate and explicate order, with synchronicity occurring at the border between the two.
I have got tell you about an incident on my cruise. I played a card game called Ultimate Texas Hold ’em, On the first night, only three hands in, I hit a very big hand. Four Queens. Weeeee I can play with their money for a while. The last night, I was sitting next to a young man playing the same game and he said ” I haven’t seen one set of quads ( meaning four of a kind and yes they are that hard to get) on this cruise. I told him I had hit four queens the first night. Two hand later he hit four queens. But better yet three hands after that I hit agian. You guessed it Four Queens.
Wow! What are the odds?!
I think it’s a function of reality as opposed to something manufactured internally. But then again, our perception is part of reality, so I’m basically chasing my tail, aren’t I? 🙂
Maybe it’s all these things!
I’m a pluralist. There are many different causes of happiness — a cookie, a compliment, a sunrise, etc. There are many different causes of depression — a criticism, toxic chemicals, the daily news, etc. So, perhaps it makes sense to think that there are many different causes of synchronicity — God / Tao / mind of the universe, your own intense emotions, other people’s needs, your predetermined destiny, etc. Synchronicity could be a common end point to the many different factors operating around you. And in any given instance, it could be about all of the factors (a hyper-synchronicity?!), or more weighted to just one of them.
Hyper synchros! A new term.
This probably sounds silly but maybe synchronicity doesn’t come from anywhere. It just IS! Like there is no such thing as time. However, we both know that it HAPPENS!
Not silly at all, Adele. It simply IS. Love it.