Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Unexplained Mysteries and Paranormal
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-07-2014, 10:29 PM
 
Location: Edmonds, WA
8,975 posts, read 10,113,696 times
Reputation: 14246

Advertisements

Synchronicity is one of the one of the most bizarre and fascinating unexplained phenomena I've come across. For me, it's especially significant because I am able to validate its existence by repeated personal experiences. Today I experienced something particularly interesting that I thought was worth sharing:

So I had training for work this morning and there were some technical issues with the computer the trainer was using. He told us we could "cadillac" while he waited for the IT guy to resolve the issues with the computer. I thought to myself huh, I've never heard that term before, and thought to myself it was actually a funny word to use for what I assumed to mean "relax" or "sit back". I asked my co-worker if she had ever heard that term before and she said had not. My mom called me later that day and when she asked what I was doing I told her I was "cadillacking". She didn't know what it meant either.

Fast forward to this evening, about 10 minutes ago in fact. I am watching one of those prison documentaries on MSNBC and they are describing a method prisoners use to communicate with each other which involves tying a string to a note. And what do you suppose this method of communication is called? Cadillacking.

It was just completely bizarre. Here is this term I had never heard before in my entire life, and I hear it twice, in two completely unrelated contexts and with two completely different meanings, in the same day. I mean, what are the odds of that happening arbitrarily? If this was the only time in my life something like this has happened, I might have just explained it away as a bizarre coincidence. After all, even the most unlikely of things have to happen sometimes. But this is one of literally dozens of experiences I have had even just in the past couple of years.

For those of you that don't know, synchronicity is a term coined by psychologist Carl Jung to describe this phenomenon. His theory is that events do not necessarily need to be related by causation; rather, they can also be related by meaning. In a dumbed-down way - like attracts like. So applying that to my scenario - I somehow ended up watching that show which included that term because I had been in the training where I had heard that term. It's a bit mind-boggling to me because the HOW aspect remains completely unexplained.

Anyway, I wanted to start this thread so that people could contribute their personal experiences with synchronicity and perhaps the more educated among us can offer their insight and share their knowledge about this phenomenon. Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-08-2014, 12:38 AM
 
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
11,936 posts, read 12,999,806 times
Reputation: 27076
This happens to me so often that I've never looked at it as bizarre or weird before.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 12:40 AM
 
15,913 posts, read 20,117,456 times
Reputation: 7693
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluefox View Post
Synchronicity is one of the one of the most bizarre and fascinating unexplained phenomena I've come across. For me, it's especially significant because I am able to validate its existence by repeated personal experiences. Today I experienced something particularly interesting that I thought was worth sharing:

So I had training for work this morning and there were some technical issues with the computer the trainer was using. He told us we could "cadillac" while he waited for the IT guy to resolve the issues with the computer. I thought to myself huh, I've never heard that term before, and thought to myself it was actually a funny word to use for what I assumed to mean "relax" or "sit back". I asked my co-worker if she had ever heard that term before and she said had not. My mom called me later that day and when she asked what I was doing I told her I was "cadillacking". She didn't know what it meant either.

Fast forward to this evening, about 10 minutes ago in fact. I am watching one of those prison documentaries on MSNBC and they are describing a method prisoners use to communicate with each other which involves tying a string to a note. And what do you suppose this method of communication is called? Cadillacking.

It was just completely bizarre. Here is this term I had never heard before in my entire life, and I hear it twice, in two completely unrelated contexts and with two completely different meanings, in the same day. I mean, what are the odds of that happening arbitrarily? If this was the only time in my life something like this has happened, I might have just explained it away as a bizarre coincidence. After all, even the most unlikely of things have to happen sometimes. But this is one of literally dozens of experiences I have had even just in the past couple of years.

For those of you that don't know, synchronicity is a term coined by psychologist Carl Jung to describe this phenomenon. His theory is that events do not necessarily need to be related by causation; rather, they can also be related by meaning. In a dumbed-down way - like attracts like. So applying that to my scenario - I somehow ended up watching that show which included that term because I had been in the training where I had heard that term. It's a bit mind-boggling to me because the HOW aspect remains completely unexplained.

Anyway, I wanted to start this thread so that people could contribute their personal experiences with synchronicity and perhaps the more educated among us can offer their insight and share their knowledge about this phenomenon. Thanks!
In his book "Unweaving the rainbow" Richard Dawkins quite thoroughly debunks it, and with very good arguments.

Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder: Richard Dawkins: 9780618056736: Amazon.com: Books
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 09:51 AM
 
Location: Edmonds, WA
8,975 posts, read 10,113,696 times
Reputation: 14246
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit View Post
In his book "Unweaving the rainbow" Richard Dawkins quite thoroughly debunks it, and with very good arguments.

Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder: Richard Dawkins: 9780618056736: Amazon.com: Books
I believe I read that book several years ago. I'll have to dig it out to take another look at it but if I recall correctly, Mr. Dawkin's basic premise on this topic was that seemingly uncanny coincidences are actually quite mundane. I.e. given all of the stimuli that a person may experience in one day, it's not illogical to presume that such coincidences could occur even with regularity. Humans, by their nature, tend to attach more significance to such coincidences than is warranted.

If this is not an accurate summary of Mr. Dawkins' argument, please correct me. But if so, I found his arguments to be woefully inadequate when analyzed under my personal/subjective experiences. I know that my subjective experience is to be accorded very little weight because it's, well, subjective. But here's the deal - I'm a skeptic about most things and as someone who has to use logic every day for my job, I am always looking to explain things in rational terms. So the vast majority of coincidences I experience do get filed away under "random/arbitrary".

But every so often there are coincidences that are so bizarre because the odds of them occurring fortuitously appear to be so minutely negligible. And they actually do tend to occur in clusters and then will not occur again until years later. Dawkins may think they are all just random and arbitrary, and I can agree to disagree about that.

To me, Jung's theory on the matter still holds out for me even if the logistics of the function are still unexplained. I mean, he wasn't trying to establish the validity religion or anything like that. Contrary to what Jung's critics say, he took a very scientific approach to his research. I think he was criticized more so because he was not afraid to think outside of the scientific dogmas and paradigms that existed during his time. But I do not think he was trying to establish anything but a scientific and rational explanation for things like synchronicity.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 05:03 PM
 
2,423 posts, read 2,422,631 times
Reputation: 5788
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueherons View Post
This happens to me so often that I've never looked at it as bizarre or weird before.


I can't recall an example right now, but it happens to me several times a week. Unlike yourself, I often find it a bit unnerving.
,
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Southwestern, USA, now.
21,020 posts, read 19,199,453 times
Reputation: 23648
Synchronicity or 'everything's perfect' whatever you call is exciting and
if I ever really told people some things...even in person they would think
I was somehow exaggerating...I luv this life and everthing is perfect...clockwork,
every single thing.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 10:54 PM
 
808 posts, read 659,838 times
Reputation: 196
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit View Post
In his book "Unweaving the rainbow" Richard Dawkins quite thoroughly debunks it, and with very good arguments.

Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder: Richard Dawkins: 9780618056736: Amazon.com: Books
dawkins? LOL

I'll take Carl Jumg approach vs Dawkins. At least he was writing in the area he was a specialist in, unlike dawkins who is just a money making machine on scandalizing the public ( nothing wrong with that per se, but his arguments can not be compared in credibility with Jung)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 11:04 PM
 
11,181 posts, read 10,470,006 times
Reputation: 18618
Quote:
Originally Posted by vox populi View Post
dawkins? LOL

I'll take Carl Jumg approach
When it comes to synchronicity, Jung rules. His book, appropriately titled "Synchronicity", has some of the most amazing examples ever. Anyone who's not read it shouldn't even try to speak on the subject.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 11:06 PM
 
8,495 posts, read 4,122,097 times
Reputation: 7043
Frequently, while I'm watching TV I am doing three other different things at the same time, like writing a letter, note, or a check, or even reading. Many, many times I am writing (or reading) a word at the same time someone saids the exact word at the same time on TV - usually, it is not commonly used words either. Have you ever thought of a person that you haven't seen in a long while, then later on that exact day you run into them? This has happened to me a lot, too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2014, 11:27 PM
 
Location: Edmonds, WA
8,975 posts, read 10,113,696 times
Reputation: 14246
Quote:
Originally Posted by biscuitmom View Post
When it comes to synchronicity, Jung rules. His book, appropriately titled "Synchronicity", has some of the most amazing examples ever. Anyone who's not read it shouldn't even try to speak on the subject.
Yeah, that's a big reason why I have so much respect for Jung. Not just in terms of synchronicity, but just his general approach to everything. Sure, he didn't get all the answers but he had this extremely effective way of analyzing things in such a lucid and eloquent way that I don't think most people could or can replicate and had such powerful/unique theories that have withstood the test of time because they are so logically sound. He was truly an amazing asset to humankind IMO.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Unexplained Mysteries and Paranormal
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top