Synchronicity: What does it mean?

Have you ever experienced a coincidence so perfect it felt like a sign? Discover the science and spirituality behind synchronicity.

Have you ever experienced things in your life that feel like it couldn't have just been a coincidence? Perhaps you were looking for something and you receive it in the next book you find.

Or maybe, you need help with something and a friend texts you with something out of the blue that will resolve that exact something.

These chance events signify a deeper meaning and intuitively we know that. How do they work?

In this post, we'll explore in depth what synchronicity means and I'll connect the dots between what science and spirituality have to say about this. I'll also share some examples from my life that were synchronistic.

Grab a cup of coffee and let's dive in...

Photo by William on Unsplash

The meaning of synchronicity

Synchronicity was first coined by the great Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung to describe meaningful coincidences that lack a causal relationship yet seem to be related meaningfully.

A real example that Jung has shared is the case where a patient described a dream involving a golden scarab. At that moment where Jung's patient was describing this, a real scarab beetle appeared at his window, which he considered a synchronistic event.

Jung thinks coincidences like this which don't seem like one caused the other but seem connected in a special way reflect a deeper connection between the person's inner state and external reality.

Personally for me, I have experienced synchronicity or rather been more aware of it in recent times. Here are some examples from my personal life:

A family member needed help with his health and was diagnosed with inflammation and chronic fatigue. We were a little stuck in terms of what we should here. Doctors had suggested supplements and improving the lifestyle but we didn't know what was triggering this or how to go about it.

I spoke to my mom about this and she suggested it's perhaps food related. So immediately, I googled for a nutritionist to help (with no prompting relating to inflammation or chronic fatigue syndrome). One of the first things that showed up on my results page that caught my attention turned out to be a specialist that works with inflammation and chronic fatigue syndrome! That was meant to be.

In another instance, not too long ago, I was going through a phase were I felt stuck. I had just given birth to my second daughter. I felt a bit stuck between being "a great mom" and between being "the ambitious career-driven person" I was pre-kids. I wanted to do both and do both well. And somehow it felt like I had to make a choice.

My mind was on overdrive thinking about tradeoffs on either side, planning, and stressing. And this loop of a dilemma never left my mind to the point where it had paralysed me to take any action. That's when I prayed for help. I wanted to hear my intuitive inner voice and no longer listen to my mind's chatter.

And the universe answered! When I went on Amazon to find my next read, without any prompting, I was shown the book The Universe has your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein. I had a strong inclination to check out the book. Not only has this book and her work strengthened my intuition, it has utterly transformed my life.

Personally, I believe in a higher power that has created all of this existence and the universe as we know it. I believe intuition is the way you connect to this higher power and synchronicities are a way of this higher power showing you that you're being guided.

While I am a seeker at heart, I am an engineer in my mind! So as always, we'll take a nice dive into what science says about synchronicity and how it happens.

Science: How synchronicity works

Quantum Physics

Quantum Physics is the science of the smallest particles in the universe. It's interesting because the smallest particles that make all of us up don't follow the laws of mainstream physics that apply to larger objects that are made up of the same particles.

Isn't that wild?

Quantum Entanglement

For instance, these quantum particles can get connected to one another in a special way "let's call it entanglement" and communicate with each other faster than light, in an instant, no matter the distance!

Let's say you send two "entangled" electrons on either side of the universe. If you measure the state of one of the electrons, the entangled twin immediately becomes a different state. It's as if the twin knows that the other electron has become state A, I'd better become state B instantaneously.

How does it know this in an instant? How did these twins communicate with each other faster than light? That's not how the world that we know of works.

There seems to be something mysterious in the universe that connects us beyond time and space.

If we expand this theory to synchronicity. There is a speculation on whether consciousness can be quantized. Quantum consciousness then may allow this sort of instantaneous, special communication that defies logic, time, and space.

Isn't that spectacular?

Superposition and the observer effect

If you've read my other posts, I talk about superposition a lot. Superposition is the concept where things at a quantum level are in a cloud of possibilities until an "observer" comes a long and measures them. An observer is a conscious being like us. In fact, this concept has been experimentally proven by the double-slit experiments.

For instance, let's say you're playing a game with your friend with a magic dice. This magic dice represents a quantum particle. Let's say you roll it and it falls off onto the floor under the table on which the game is kept. Now, the dice is no longer visible to you or your friend. At this point, this magic dice is living all possibilities at once. It could have landed on 1-6 face values; it could have landed on its corners, anything could have happened.

Until you or your friend observe this, it remains in a flux! It remains in a superposition state.

So how does this tie to synchronicity?

This tells us that as conscious beings, our "observation" shapes reality. If we were to oversimplify this analogy, perhaps all possibilities are always available to us and it's up to us to choose what we want to see and bring it into our reality.

If we choose to perceive with abundance, perhaps we see more opportunities and feel like things are helping us achieve. We bring them into our reality. If we choose to perceive with fear, maybe we bring lack, anxiety, and struggles into our life.

Biology & Neurology

Now, let's take a detour and look at how our body works in detecting these synchronicities. To understand this, let's look at an impressive neural structure known as the Reticular Activating System or RAS.

The RAS is a network of neurons located in the brainstem and it's primary job is to filter out relevant sensory information from a vast, incredible source of sensory information to our conscious awareness.

The interesting bit is that if you choose a goal or choose to focus your thoughts and beliefs on something - let's say starting a business, the RAS will increase the awareness of any sensory information that may be relevant to that. So this heightened attention is why you may notice more opportunities related to your business. This tell us how our focus can shape our perception of reality.

This ties back to what Dr. Carol Dweck says in her book Mindset, where what you believe shapes what you achieve.

Think of it like a smart internal system that filters out unnecessary information and gives you razor focus on achieving your goals. And you don't even know you're doing it!

From Jung's example from earlier, a scarab beetle showing up on your window in that exact moment after a patient describes her dream could be the RAS really focusing their attention on the beetle at the window. Perhaps you can say that they noticed it because of the awareness of the dream and otherwise, they wouldn't have. Would the beetle be there if nobody noticed it?

We can't A/B test life and with individualistic, subjective events to test whether they objectively exist.

While it makes a compelling case, personally what boggles my mind is that RAS doesn't explain how sometimes external events happen coincidentally to you that seem out of the blue.

For instance... receiving a LinkedIn message or a phone call from a friend with the exact information to help you at that point.

How did the RAS "filter" this out?

Maybe you can say that if you thought of 100s of people this week and you get a call from one of them, its a true coincidence. Maybe it's probability at play.

This brings us to the concept of confirmation bias and Apophenia in Psychology.

Psychology

Confirmation Bias is a type of cognitive bias where you use selective perception to confirm what you already believe. Think of the times you created a slide deck or a business case for something using data that works for your case, ignoring all the "anomalies" that perhaps say otherwise.

We do it all the time unconsciously. This tells us that our beliefs are very strong in impacting our perception and understanding of the world around us.

If we take this too far, it's known as Apophenia. This is a cognitive bias where you tend to perceive patterns, meaning, or significant when there are none.

For instance, if you've ever been to Vegas and gambled, if you've won a few games you may think you're on a "winning streak" and double down. But this could be a cognitive bias because each game is statistically significant.

So is synchronicity just our cognitive bias acting up? Or does it have deeper meaning?

Spirituality: Synchronicity is divine guidance

According to spiritual leaders, when synchronicity occurs in your life, you are seeing guidance from a higher power - call it God, universe, energy, or consciousness. When your energy matches that of the universe, life seems to flow effortlessly and you'll see more and more signs of this.

In my spiritual practice, three teachers that have had a transformative impact are Gabrielle Bernstein, Joseph Nyugen, and Sadhguru. In following their practices, I have become more aware of synchronicity in my life and have strengthened my intuitive voice – which I felt was lost earlier in the sea of overthinking.

Now is this synchronicity merely a cognitive bias or a pattern recognition? Or a divine guidance from a higher power?

I choose and believe in the latter.

What's your choice? The beauty is that whichever you choose to believe will hold true. Your beliefs shape your reality. So choose your beliefs wisely!

How do you perceive synchronicity?

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