{"id":920,"date":"2011-02-15T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.synchrosecrets.com\/synchrosecrets\/?p=920"},"modified":"2011-02-15T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-15T14:00:00","slug":"apophenia-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=920","title":{"rendered":"Apophenia anyone?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

Recently, I wandered into the skeptic’s dictionary out of curiosity to see what they had to say about synchronicity. Basically, folks, they’re telling those of us who accept and pursue meaningful coincidences in our lives that we’re deluded or crazy. Let me quote from the dictionary.<\/p>\n

“What reasons are there for accepting synchronicity as an explanation for anything in the real world? What it explains is more simply and elegantly explained by the ability of the human mind to find meaning and significance where there is none (apophenia).<\/p>\n

“Jung’s defense of acausal connections is so inane I hesitate to repeat it. He argues that “acausal phenomena must exist…since statistics are only possible anyway if there are also exceptions” (1973, Letters, 2:426).<\/p>\n

“He asserts that “…improbable facts exist–otherwise there would be no statistical mean…”  (ibid.: 2:374). Finally, he claims that “the premise of probability simultaneously postulates the existence of the improbable” (ibid. : 2:540). However, if you think of all the pairs of things that can happen in a person’s lifetime, and add to that our very versatile ability of finding meaningful connections between things, it then seems likely that most of us will experience many meaningful coincidences. The coincidences are predictable but we are the ones who give them meaning.”<\/b>
***
I love that last line. Should someone else apply meaning or no meaning to our coincidences? Are we not worthy of making decisions about our own experiences? The message is that we should not trust our own thoughts or perceptions if we find meaning in coincidental or mysterious happenings in our lives. In other words, the proper and scientific thing to do is to ignore and dismiss coincidences.  The inverse, of course, is that it’s okay to apply no meaning.<\/p>\n

The writer continues:<\/p>\n

“Even if there were a synchronicity between the mind and the world such that certain coincidences resonate with transcendental truth, there would still be the problem of figuring out those truths. What guide could one possibly use to determine the correctness of an interpretation? There is none except intuition and insight, the same guides that led Jung’s teacher, Sigmund Freud, in his interpretation of dreams. The concept of synchronicity is but an expression of apophenia.”<\/p>\n

The Skeptic’s  Dictionary concludes with a comment that Jung went through a period of mental illness when he was exploring these concepts. The implication: he was crazy and so are we!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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