Editing Synchronicity (section)

{{Short description|Jungian concept of the meaningfulness of acausal coincidences}}
{{About|the Jungian concept}}
{{redirect|Acausal|the concept in systems theory|Acausal system}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2021}}
{{Psychology sidebar|all}}
'''Synchronicity''' ({{langx|de|Synchronizität}}) is a concept introduced by [[Carl Jung]], founder of [[analytical psychology]], to describe events that coincide in time and appear [[meaning (psychology)|meaningfully related]], yet lack a discoverable [[causality|causal connection]].<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
|entry=synchronicity (''n.'') 
|encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary
|date=July 2023
|orig-date=1986
|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] 
|location=Oxford
|doi=10.1093/OED/5261833623 
|entry-url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/synchronicity_n?tab=meaning_and_use
|quote=The name given by the Swiss psychologist, C. G. Jung (1875–1961), to the phenomenon of events which coincide in time and appear meaningfully related but have no discoverable causal connection. 
|url=https://www.oed.com/
|url-access=subscription
|access-date=21 July 2024
}}</ref> Jung held that this was a healthy function of the mind, although it can become harmful within [[psychosis]].<ref name=Campbell2010>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Campbell|first=Frances|year=2010|title=Synchronicity|editor1-last=Leeming|editor1-first=D.A.|editor2-last=Madden|editor2-first=K.|editor3-last=Marlan|editor3-first=S.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion|pages=888–889|publisher=Springer|location=Boston, MA|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-71802-6_678|isbn=978-0-387-71801-9}}</ref>{{sfnp|Aziz|1990|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5gKC8utEuAEC&pg=PA191 191]}}

Jung developed the theory as a hypothetical noncausal principle serving as the [[intersubjective]] or [[Objectivity (philosophy)|philosophically objective]] connection between these seemingly meaningful coincidences. After coining the term in the late 1920s<ref name=Tarnas2006>{{cite book|last=Tarnas|first=Richard|year=2006|title=Cosmos and Psyche|publisher=Penguin Group|location=New York|isbn=978-0-670-03292-1|page=50|url=https://archive.org/details/cosmospsycheinti00tarn/page/50}}</ref> Jung developed the concept with physicist [[Wolfgang Pauli]] through correspondence and in their 1952 work ''The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche''.{{sfnp|Jung|1973}}<ref>Jung, Carl Gustav, and [[Wolfgang Pauli|Wolfgang Ernst Pauli]]. [1952] 1955. ''The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche'', translated from German ''Naturerklärung und Psyche''.</ref><ref>Main, Roderick. 2000. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20061208041508/http://www.essex.ac.uk/centres/psycho/publications/RMpapers.htm Religion, Science, and Synchronicity]". ''Harvest: Journal for Jungian Studies'' 46(2):89–107. Archived from the [http://www.essex.ac.uk/centres/psycho/publications/RMpapers.htm original] on 8 December 2006.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Hogenson|first=G. B.|year=2008|title=''The Innermost Kernel: Depth Psychology and Quantum Mechanics. Wolfgang Pauli's Dialogue with C. G. Jung'', by Gieser, Suzanne|journal=Journal of Analytical Psychology|volume=53|number=1|pages=127–136|doi=10.1111/j.1468-5922.2007.00705_1.x }}</ref> This culminated in the '''Pauli–Jung conjecture'''<!--boldface per [[WP:R#PLA]]-->.<ref name=AtmanspacherFuchs2014>{{cite book|last1=Atmanspacher|first1=Harald|last2=Fuchs|first2=Christopher A.|year=2014|chapter=Introduction|title=The Pauli–Jung Conjecture and Its Impact Today|editor1-last=Atmanspacher|editor1-first=Harald|editor2-last=Fuchs|editor2-first=Christopher A.|publisher=Imprint Academic|edition=2017|pages=1–6|isbn=978-18454-07599}}</ref><ref>Beitman, Bernard D. 2009. "[http://coincider.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/GibbsPsychCritiques.pdf Coincidence Studies: A Freudian Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225073354/http://coincider.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/GibbsPsychCritiques.pdf |date=2017-02-25 }}". ''[[PsycCRITIQUES]]'' 55(49): Article 8. {{doi|10.1037/a0021474}}. {{S2CID|147210858}}.</ref><ref name=DiaconisMosteller1989>{{cite journal|last1=Diaconis|first1=Persi|last2=Mosteller|first2=Fredrick|year=1989|title=Methods of Studying Coincidences|journal=Journal of the American Statistical Association|volume=84|number=408|pages=853–861|doi=10.1080/01621459.1989.10478847|jstor=2290058}}</ref><ref name=":0">Jung, Carl G. [1951] 2005. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=usrGSaO7QosC&pg=PA90 Synchronicity]". Pp. 91–98 in ''Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal'', edited by R. Main. London: [[Taylor & Francis]].</ref><ref name=Main2014>{{cite book|last=Main|first=Roderick|year=2014|chapter=Synchronicity and the Problem of Meaning in Science|title=The Pauli–Jung Conjecture and Its Impact Today|editor1-last=Atmanspacher|editor1-first=Harald|editor2-last=Fuchs|editor2-first=Christopher A.|publisher=Imprint Academic|edition=2017|pages=217–239|isbn=978-18454-07599}}</ref>
Jung and Pauli's view was that, just as causal connections can provide a meaningful understanding of the [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]] and the world, so too may acausal connections.<ref name=Bishop2008>{{cite journal|last=Bishop|first=Paul C.|author-link=Paul C. Bishop|year=2008|title=The Timeliness and Timelessness of the 'Archaic': Analytical Psychology, 'Primordial' Thought, Synchronicity|journal=Journal of Analytical Psychology|volume=53|number=4|pages=501–23|doi=10.1111/j.1468-5922.2008.00743.x|pmid=18844735}}</ref>

A 2016 study found 70% of therapists agreed synchronicity experiences could be useful for therapy. Analytical psychologists hold that individuals must understand the compensatory meaning of these experiences to "enhance [[consciousness]] rather than merely build up [[Superstition|superstitiousness]]". However, clients who disclose synchronicity experiences report not being listened to, accepted, or understood. The experience of overabundance of meaningful coincidences can be characteristic of [[Schizophrenia|schizophrenic delusion]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Morrison|first1=P. D.|last2=Murray|first2=R. M.|year=2009|title=From Real-World Events to Psychosis: The Emerging Neuropharmacology of Delusions|journal=Schizophrenia Bulletin|volume=35|issue=4|pages=668–674|doi=10.1093/schbul/sbp049|pmc=2696381|pmid=19487337}}</ref>

Jung used synchronicity in arguing for the existence of the paranormal.<ref name="Roderick">{{cite book|title=When God winks|last1=Rushnell|first1=S.|date=2006|publisher=Atria Books}}</ref> This idea was explored by [[Arthur Koestler]] in ''[[The Roots of Coincidence]]''{{sfnp|Koestler|1973}} and taken up by the [[New Age]] movement. Unlike [[magical thinking]], which believes causally unrelated events to have paranormal causal connection, synchronicity supposes events may be causally unrelated yet have unknown noncausal connection.

The objection from a scientific standpoint is that this is neither [[testable]] nor [[falsifiable]], so does not fall within empirical study.<ref name=TSEOP>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Bonds|first=Christopher|year=2002|title=Synchronicity|encyclopedia=[[The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience]]|volume=1|editor-last=Shermer|editor-first=Michael|editor-link=Michael Shermer|pages=240–242|isbn=9781576076538|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&pg=PA240}}</ref> [[Scientific scepticism]] regards it as [[pseudoscience]]. Jung stated that synchronicity events are chance occurrences from a statistical point of view, but meaningful in that they may seem to validate paranormal ideas. No empirical studies of synchronicity based on observable [[mental state]]s and [[scientific data]] were conducted by Jung to draw his conclusions, though studies have since been done {{see below|{{slink||Studies}}}}. While someone may experience a coincidence as meaningful, this alone cannot prove objective meaning to the coincidence.

[[Law of statistics|Statistical laws]] or [[probability]], show how unexpected occurrences can be inevitable or more likely encountered than people assume. These explain coincidences such as synchronicity experiences as [[event (probability theory)|chance events]] which have been misinterpreted by [[confirmation bias]]es, [[spurious correlation]]s, or underestimated probability.<ref>[[Benjamin Radford|Radford, Benjamin]]. 4 February 2014. "[https://www.livescience.com/43105-synchronicity-definition-meaning.html Synchronicity: Definition & Meaning]". ''[[Live Science]]''. Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref><ref name=experience>{{Cite book | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-26300-7_9| chapter=The Experience of Coincidence: An Integrated Psychological and Neurocognitive Perspective| title=The Challenge of Chance| series=The Frontiers Collection| year=2016| last1=Van Elk| first1=Michiel| last2=Friston| first2=Karl| last3=Bekkering| first3=Harold| pages=171–185| isbn=978-3-319-26298-7| s2cid=3642342}}</ref>