Synchronicity
Meaningful coincidence without obvious causation
Symbolically useful
Psychologically vivid; acausal mechanism unproven.
Definition
Synchronicity is Jung's term for coincidences that feel acausally connected through meaning rather than through known physical chains.
Why it matters
It names a common human experience and separates symbolic significance from statistical and causal explanation.
Strongest arguments
- People reliably report transformative coincidences.
- The concept clarifies therapy, art, and spiritual language.
Strongest criticisms
- Confirmation bias and base-rate neglect inflate apparent frequency.
- No repeatable protocol demonstrates acausal linkage.
Misconception Map
Common reasoning traps when exploring this question.
Synchronicity proves fate
Felt meaning is taken as cosmic ordering.
Correction: Meaning in experience does not establish external destiny.
Related theories
Apophenia research · Bayesian surprise · Archetypes
Key thinkers
Jung, Pauli, von Franz, Aziz
Related topics
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