synchronicity

Synchronicity is a concept in depth psychology describing meaningful coincidences that occur with no apparent causal connection, yet seem to have personal significance for the observer. The term was introduced by Carl G. Jung in collaboration with physicist Wolfgang Pauli in the 1950s. Jung framed synchronicity as an acausal connecting principle that links psyche and matter, suggesting an underlying order in the universe beyond ordinary cause-and-effect explanations.

In Jung’s view, synchronicities arise when an inner psychological state, such as a dream or a conscious concern, is mirrored by an external event in a way that the observer interprets as meaningful. Examples commonly cited include dreams that seem to anticipate real events, or coincidences in which an external occurrence resonates with a person’s thoughts or emotions at a crucial moment. These events are described as highly implausible from a purely statistical standpoint yet are not physically causally related.

Interpretations of synchronicity vary. Proponents see it as evidence of a deeper pattern in reality that connects mind and world in a nonlocal manner. Critics argue that it rests on post hoc interpretation, is not falsifiable, and may reflect cognitive biases such as pattern-seeking or confirmation bias rather than an actual governing principle.

Synchronicity has influenced fields beyond psychology, including literature, philosophy, and some spiritual and New Age contexts. In scientific communities, it remains a topic of debate, typically approached as a mainly interpretive framework rather than an empirically validated theory.