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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Coincidence-a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.
Do you ever experience coincidences that you just can't fathom? Have you been left dumbfounded by something?
Do you believe in fate?
Do you think it's just random?
Do we look for links in things and make connections where there are none?
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Sir Terry Pratchett wrote that a million to one chance will succeed nine times out of ten (but I think that only works on his Discworld).
But it is incredible how often you can bump in to someone thousands of miles away that knows someone you know. Or lived down the road from you when they were little.
I don't read too much in to these occurrences. It just shows that it can be a small world and anything can (and often does) happen. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I dint necessarily believe in fate...how can you believe in it?
But sometimes events are just beyond and the chances of them happening are beyond belief!! Makes you question. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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“Coincidences” are only remarkable when they occur (if that makes sense!) because we have thousands of interactions daily where no coincidences occur and which we disregard from our minds.
For example I was on a tourist boat in Australia a couple of years ago and met a woman who turned out to be from the next village to me. Gosh what a coincidence I thought! But when I consider all the people I’ve met on holiday that live near me over the years it’s a very small number - I just don’t remember all the thousands of others as the circumstances weren’t remarkable! This one lady, one in thousands, stands out as it was such a ‘coincidence’!
I’m not articulating myself very well but I’m guessing laws of probability suggest that we should all experience “coincidences” from time to time! |
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"“Coincidences” are only remarkable when they occur (if that makes sense!) because we have thousands of interactions daily where no coincidences occur and which we disregard from our minds.
"
Exactly this. Given the billions of events that happen daily it would be impossible for coincidences not to occur. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"“Coincidences” are only remarkable when they occur (if that makes sense!) because we have thousands of interactions daily where no coincidences occur and which we disregard from our minds.
For example I was on a tourist boat in Australia a couple of years ago and met a woman who turned out to be from the next village to me. Gosh what a coincidence I thought! But when I consider all the people I’ve met on holiday that live near me over the years it’s a very small number - I just don’t remember all the thousands of others as the circumstances weren’t remarkable! This one lady, one in thousands, stands out as it was such a ‘coincidence’!
I’m not articulating myself very well but I’m guessing laws of probability suggest that we should all experience “coincidences” from time to time!"
I know what you mean and it does make sense.
Sometimes fate seems to make things happen. I know it probably isn't but I like to think it is. Like bumping into someone a lot after not seeing them for ages. 
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"What about when they involve more than one event or similarity?
"
Do you have something in mind? I've had something like this where it felt like the universe was throwing us together. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I was going through the most profound period of sensory experiences that were inexplicable to me. I didn’t know what to make of them. I was in Waterstones looking for books to aid me in my studies when I accidentally bumped into a shelf. A book fell on the floor. I happened to read the back cover and I realised the book was the answer to my question.
Synchronicity was a term Carl Jung used for such events - meaningful coincidences - of which there have been quite a few at key moments in my life. But the one above was probably the most enlightening moment of synchronicity. |
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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"What about when they involve more than one event or similarity?
Do you have something in mind? I've had something like this where it felt like the universe was throwing us together. "
Yeah it was a lot of links to someone in my past. A whole load of things that were significant to us.
There were logical reasons for them to have happened but there were 5 or 6 all in one day and from one person. |
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People are meaning making organisms, with part of how we make sense of the world being based upon patterns and their recognition. We will associate anything together, sometimes via the inbuilt biases that steer our attention towards what we consciously pay attention to. As such, humans are inherently geared up for matching things up. With a lifetime of experience, millions of things pass by us, so it seems reasonable to assume that some of those things will, just by chance, have some significance, that we may focus our attention upon, as apophenia, perceiving them as connected when there is no more connection than me turning the TV on today and it snowing within a minute or so.
This is not to deny that there may be connections between things, that some or all coincidences etc are significant portals, signifying some deeper meaning or importance between them. We certainly do not understand that much about our universe or our brains/minds, so there could be capabilities and all manner of things that are really going on, that we largely remain ignorant of at present.
I'm more leaning towards Occam's razor, such that there's a likely very simple answer that's right. That may or may not be that there's simply something beyond our current understanding that's causing such things. Or it may be one of many others, such as our attention is biased and out of our billions of observations, will pick up on some of them that have some significance just randomly. |
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Years ago I had a holiday fling with an Australian. We lost touch but 5 or 6 years later I got on a train at King's Cross and there he was calling my name! Things to bear in mind:
I'd been to London for a very specific and one off reason, it wasn't my usual routine to catch that train - I had no idea which time train I'd be catching home.
I chose that particular carriage at random.
Since we last spoke this guy wouldn't have known I'd moved to a town on that line.
And of course I had no idea he was in the UK, let alone London, let alone on that train.
So yeah, I felt that was a pretty big coincidence all things considered. A bit of an embarrassing one too as we were both with our then partners and had to make polite small talk for about an hour!  |
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"Everything that happens to us is a result of coincidence.
You old sceptic 
I like to think sometimes I've got one of these  looking out for me  "
Moi!? 
It's true though, life is full of small coincidences but we only notice the huge ones.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Everything that happens to us is a result of coincidence.
You old sceptic
I like to think sometimes I've got one of these looking out for me
Moi!?
It's true though, life is full of small coincidences but we only notice the huge ones.
"
I know what your saying but...there has been a few times in my life were a split second change of mind has literally saved my life.
I know it could be coincidence. ..but I'm a old romantic  |
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