What Are Coincidences, and How Much in Life Is Coincidence or Something More?

[accelafine]

When you climb out of bed and a voice clearly states "Tonight, bad luck".

Then that night you get bashed by someone with a baseball bat, mobile phone stolen or lost, and have to spend a weak in hospital. Then when getting a new phone it has a new number : 007666 in the middle - ya, U start to see the light - we are in an intelligence system and JE_SUS it all out.

Where's the 'coincidence'?

[attofishpi]

When you climb out of bed and a voice clearly states "Tonight, bad luck".

Then that night you get bashed by someone with a baseball bat, mobile phone stolen or lost, and have to spend a weak in hospital. Then when getting a new phone it has a new number : 007666 in the middle - ya, U start to see the light - we are in an intelligence system and JE_SUS it all out.

Where's the 'coincidence'?

Precisely the point I am making, that not all things that happen are mere coincidences in attempt to answer Jack's question - "something more?"

[Jack Daydream]

The following seems to be a solid definition of "coincidence":
"a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection"

As such, a causal concurrence of events or circumstances which does not have an apparent causal connection, is a "coincidence". A real-life coincidence is when I went to a jazz club and ran into someone that I had known in college from more than a decade before, but with whom I had had absolutely no contact whatsoever. There was absolutely no causal connection, but was a remarkable concurrence of events. From what I gather, it makes some feel good to believe that there was some unknown/supernatural force behind it, but c'mon. Such is the root of superstition and religion. Ultimately it's a sign of immaturity.

Superstition has been a problem, ranging from ideas of Friday 13th and so many associations, especially 666, and is based on fear.

It is true that many of the chance meetings are of no significance. However, there is the common occurrence of thinking of someone just as they pick up the phone and other 'unusual' experiences. Such experiences, including possible telepathy, may or may not be significant.

Not sure why you make a distinction between "chance meetings" and "the common occurrence of thinking of someone just as they pick up the phone and other 'unusual' experiences". Because it's more "common"? How is that relevant?

Following seems to be a solid definition of "superstition" as to what's being discussed here:
"a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event".

How is what's being discussed here not fit that definition of "superstition" and why do you believe that it's not likewise "a problem"?

However, with the question of supernatural, it depends by what one means by supernatural. It could be taken to signify a designer or may be just nature being a bit more complex than many expect it to be.

Which is why I wrote "unknown/supernatural force". You seem to believe that this is of some significance, but I'm at a loss as to what that might be.

Each of us probably understands and interprets life experiences differently. My connection between 'chance meetings' and experiences of a person phoning just as they were thinking of them are ones I am familiar with, and ones people describe to me. Maybe, you have never had the phone experience. In experience, a lot of interpretation is about working out what is significant and what is not.

In the example of chance meetings, so many people are met on a daily basis and some will play a significant role in life and others will not. Personally, I have found that sometimes the people who become close friends are met in the strangest circumstances.

For example, someone who is my closest friend was someone I knew at school but not very well. However, I saw her a few years later and while we were talking her shoe broke. She came home to see if my mother had a suitable pair of shoes for her to borrow and that is how I got to know her. Similarly, one friend I got to know was someone who was moving out from the room which I was moving into. You may think that I am blowing these examples out of proportion but I find it hard to find friends even when I go to places and events for that specific purpose.

Your definition of superstition is interesting because it draws on the primitive idea of sympathetic magic. That is because it is about seeing relationships and working with underlying patterns for effects. The most obvious example is voodoo magic. Historically, superstitions about certain numbers etc was a watered down version of this. Nevertheless, there are certain underlying sympathies in nature. For instance, often people who have body transplant parts of another, such as a kidney, find that the part fails on the death of the original owner. It is part of the way of interconnectedness in nature.

You seem to think that I read too much into your remark about the 'supernatural' or 'force'. That is because I grew up in a Catholic background with a belief that God has a specific path for each person. I have changed my belief system many times and do query the idea of what is the supernatural. I do think that there may be some underlying consciousness, or divinity, underlying all nature but rather than it being simply transcendent as 'supernature', see it as being imminent in nature itself.

[Jack Daydream]

It makes it sound like a cosmic game of 'snap'. Of course, there has been the issue of the scream in the Led Zepellin song, if played backwards saying, ''Satan is God' and the,whole question of deliberate backmasking in music, or mere coincidence? After all, any reference to dog comes out as God backwards. Patterns are about human recognition or creative interpretation, like stressed spelled backwards as being desserts.

I think you are missing the point I am making; "desserts" backwards making "stressed" has no LOG_I_C causal connection. The words I listed do and I explained Y.

Interesting isn't it that a greeting HELLO has HELL and O (again, coincidence or some intelligence behind the construct to these words?)

Part of the issue is about the way coincidences are understood. The worst possibility is when a coincidence is read as a kind of omen,

Owe Men?

..with a coincidence being seen as the implication that something is meant to be. If anything, it may be about resonances and what they represent on a symbolic level, like dreams. If taken literally as opposed to symbolically, there is a danger of delusional thinking.

Coincidence\Synchronicities are to the extreme when you are being TESTED by the wrath of God. But of course, if I talk of such things to an atheist it can only be seen as 'delusional thinking'.

But you are only looking at linguistics. Philosophy goes deeper than that, with or without the idea of 'God'. The idea of 'delusion' is an important area, especially in mental health assessment as well as philosophy. However, it may be erroneous to box people with different beliefs as delusional, as a form of philosophical fundamentalism. It rules out uncertainty and free thinking.

[Jack Daydream]

When you climb out of bed and a voice clearly states "Tonight, bad luck".

Then that night you get bashed by someone with a baseball bat, mobile phone stolen or lost, and have to spend a weak in hospital. Then when getting a new phone it has a new number : 007666 in the middle - ya, U start to see the light - we are in an intelligence system and JE_SUS it all out.

If one experiences 'voices', which is often a source of distress and recognised mental illness, to listen and accept the voice uncritically can lead to major thinking errors.

In the scenario you describe I would say that the person had been influenced by the experience of the negative voice. It has been a starting point in mindset for bad experiences, as a self fulfilling prophecy. The subconscious can play ominous tricks and is it not surprising that some speak of inner 'demons', because thoughts whether as voices or as thoughts can bring about negative experiences in many instances.

[attofishpi]

It makes it sound like a cosmic game of 'snap'. Of course, there has been the issue of the scream in the Led Zepellin song, if played backwards saying, ''Satan is God' and the,whole question of deliberate backmasking in music, or mere coincidence? After all, any reference to dog comes out as God backwards. Patterns are about human recognition or creative interpretation, like stressed spelled backwards as being desserts.

I think you are missing the point I am making; "desserts" backwards making "stressed" has no LOG_I_C causal connection. The words I listed do and I explained Y.

Interesting isn't it that a greeting HELLO has HELL and O (again, coincidence or some intelligence behind the construct to these words?)

Part of the issue is about the way coincidences are understood. The worst possibility is when a coincidence is read as a kind of omen,

Owe Men?

..with a coincidence being seen as the implication that something is meant to be. If anything, it may be about resonances and what they represent on a symbolic level, like dreams. If taken literally as opposed to symbolically, there is a danger of delusional thinking.

Coincidence\Synchronicities are to the extreme when you are being TESTED by the wrath of God. But of course, if I talk of such things to an atheist it can only be seen as 'delusional thinking'.

But you are only looking at linguistics.

No what I am pointing out is cumulative evidence, do you need more?

Philosophy goes deeper than that, with or without the idea of 'God'.

Faithless "philosophy" leaves you fathoming in the depths of a puddle.

The idea of 'delusion' is an important area, especially in mental health assessment as well as philosophy. However, it may be erroneous to box people with different beliefs as delusional, as a form of philosophical fundamentalism. It rules out uncertainty and free thinking.

Well being labelled 'delusional' by a professional made me a shed load of money.

God works in mysterious ways.

Wise PUPILS of the light ---->COINCIDENCE

[Jack Daydream]

I think you are missing the point I am making; "desserts" backwards making "stressed" has no LOG_I_C causal connection. The words I listed do and I explained Y.

Interesting isn't it that a greeting HELLO has HELL and O (again, coincidence or some intelligence behind the construct to these words?)




Owe Men?




Coincidence\Synchronicities are to the extreme when you are being TESTED by the wrath of God. But of course, if I talk of such things to an atheist it can only be seen as 'delusional thinking'.

But you are only looking at linguistics.

No what I am pointing out is cumulative evidence, do you need more?

Philosophy goes deeper than that, with or without the idea of 'God'.

Faithless "philosophy" leaves you fathoming in the depths of a puddle.

The idea of 'delusion' is an important area, especially in mental health assessment as well as philosophy. However, it may be erroneous to box people with different beliefs as delusional, as a form of philosophical fundamentalism. It rules out uncertainty and free thinking.

Well being labelled 'delusional' by a professional made me a shed load of money.

God works in mysterious ways.

Wise PUPILS of the light ---->COINCIDENCE

I am all in favour of cumulative evidence but it is not easy to demonstrate always. A lot of my own thinking is based on life experience, which is often dismissed within philosophy as lacking objectivity. I do often wonder about giving up on philosophy writing and writing fiction because it has more creative freedom. Philosophy is becoming almost an appendix to science.

I am sorry that you got labelled by a professional as 'delusional'. I think that I became close to delusional while I was at school and at university. That is because I was struggling to come to terms with horrible premonitions and synchronicities. I had a number of premonitions of people's deaths a short while before they died, including my headmaster. As so many were in a short period of time and I could not explain them I worried briefly that it was me causing the deaths. However, I was able to reason that was unlikely.

It was my experience of premonitions and synchronicities which stopped me going down the path of atheistic materialism. For a long while, I held onto conventional Christian beliefs but it then became apparent that many mainstream Christian beliefs were too literalistic. So, I have continued down the pathway to a search for truth incorporating various religious perspectives, science and all worldviews. I do agree that some philosophies, 'leaves you fathoming in the depths of a puddle'. I see a lot of mystery, even though many wish to see philosophy as solving the mysteries in a neat way.

[ThinkOfOne]

Superstition has been a problem, ranging from ideas of Friday 13th and so many associations, especially 666, and is based on fear.

It is true that many of the chance meetings are of no significance. However, there is the common occurrence of thinking of someone just as they pick up the phone and other 'unusual' experiences. Such experiences, including possible telepathy, may or may not be significant.

Not sure why you make a distinction between "chance meetings" and "the common occurrence of thinking of someone just as they pick up the phone and other 'unusual' experiences". Because it's more "common"? How is that relevant?

Following seems to be a solid definition of "superstition" as to what's being discussed here:
"a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event".

How is what's being discussed here not fit that definition of "superstition" and why do you believe that it's not likewise "a problem"?

However, with the question of supernatural, it depends by what one means by supernatural. It could be taken to signify a designer or may be just nature being a bit more complex than many expect it to be.

Which is why I wrote "unknown/supernatural force". You seem to believe that this is of some significance, but I'm at a loss as to what that might be.

Each of us probably understands and interprets life experiences differently. My connection between 'chance meetings' and experiences of a person phoning just as they were thinking of them are ones I am familiar with, and ones people describe to me. Maybe, you have never had the phone experience. In experience, a lot of interpretation is about working out what is significant and what is not.

In the example of chance meetings, so many people are met on a daily basis and some will play a significant role in life and others will not. Personally, I have found that sometimes the people who become close friends are met in the strangest circumstances.

For example, someone who is my closest friend was someone I knew at school but not very well. However, I saw her a few years later and while we were talking her shoe broke. She came home to see if my mother had a suitable pair of shoes for her to borrow and that is how I got to know her. Similarly, one friend I got to know was someone who was moving out from the room which I was moving into. You may think that I am blowing these examples out of proportion but I find it hard to find friends even when I go to places and events for that specific purpose.

Your definition of superstition is interesting because it draws on the primitive idea of sympathetic magic. That is because it is about seeing relationships and working with underlying patterns for effects. The most obvious example is voodoo magic. Historically, superstitions about certain numbers etc was a watered down version of this. Nevertheless, there are certain underlying sympathies in nature. For instance, often people who have body transplant parts of another, such as a kidney, find that the part fails on the death of the original owner. It is part of the way of interconnectedness in nature.

You seem to think that I read too much into your remark about the 'supernatural' or 'force'. That is because I grew up in a Catholic background with a belief that God has a specific path for each person. I have changed my belief system many times and do query the idea of what is the supernatural. I do think that there may be some underlying consciousness, or divinity, underlying all nature but rather than it being simply transcendent as 'supernature', see it as being imminent in nature itself.

For instance, often people who have body transplant parts of another, such as a kidney, find that the part fails on the death of the original owner. It is part of the way of interconnectedness in nature.

What leads you to believe that this is true?

I do think that there may be some underlying consciousness, or divinity, underlying all nature but rather than it being simply transcendent as 'supernature', see it as being imminent in nature itself.

What leads you to believe that this is true?


On a different tack, considering what you've been writing thus far as a whole, I've been trying to figure out whether or not the distinctions you make are based on reason. Based on your responses thus far, this does not seem to be the case. Have you considered taking a step back seeing if you can synthesize your thoughts into a coherent whole?

[attofishpi]

I am all in favour of cumulative evidence but it is not easy to demonstrate always. A lot of my own thinking is based on life experience, which is often dismissed within philosophy as lacking objectivity. I do often wonder about giving up on philosophy writing and writing fiction because it has more creative freedom. Philosophy is becoming almost an appendix to science.

Sounds like a good idea re writing fiction rather than philosophy unless you have something original to offer re love of wisdom.

My little foray was with a cyberpunk book - Alpha Two which you can check out here: https://www.androcies.com/alphatwo.php

What genre of fiction would you be interested in writing? You could make something out of the synchronicities you account for below re school and universe_city.

(I am currently recoding the website, in between other tasks such as painting).

I am sorry that you got labelled by a professional as 'delusional'.

Nothing to be sorry about Jack, I am in no way delusional. The truth of the matter is that I diagnosed myself for the psychiatrist. I finished up working for NEC in 2017 when I was forced out of work in the office - letters on my screen started scrambling and 'people' calling out "do art". So I quit. I needed to get the govnt off of my back to find another job so I decided to see a shrink. I told him my story that started in 1997 and that I need a medical certificate to get the govt to give me money so I could work for Jesus ! I said to him do I need to see you and not just a psychologist, thus I am required to take pills to get a certificate. He said yes, govt requirement. He said so you don't think there is anything mentally wrong with you, I said I know there is nothing wrong with my Brian Brain but then define schizophrenia, maybe it's God screwing with people? He said so I have to put something on the certificate, shall I put schizophrenia - I said sure. As I said I made a shed load of money out of it, I didn't real eyes I had two insurances with my two super funds! (I didn't take the pills, although maybe there was a red one somewhere..)

Prior to the "diagnosis" I had been redrawing on my mortgage for living expenses. I said to God\sage I need money if you want me to do this art thang. A couple of days later there was a deposit of $4500 in my account with the transaction title BT Portfolio (BT is my true initials DO_U_BT?)..of course I didn't find the time to follow this up with the bank

I think that I became close to delusional while I was at school and at university. That is because I was struggling to come to terms with horrible premonitions and synchronicities. I had a number of premonitions of people's deaths a short while before they died, including my headmaster. As so many were in a short period of time and I could not explain them I worried briefly that it was me causing the deaths. However, I was able to reason that was unlikely.

Totally agree that would be unlikely, but perhaps GOD was attempting to wise U up about something, death isn't so terrible and there may have been a positive reason for these synchronicities.

Reality is a convoluted apparition of the Truth.

It was my experience of premonitions and synchronicities which stopped me going down the path of atheistic materialism. For a long while, I held onto conventional Christian beliefs but it then became apparent that many mainstream Christian beliefs were too literalistic.

Absolutely. The important thing about being a Christian is doing it your way. Forget all the bigotry and crap that all the versions of the 'church' come in. The important thing is to believe in what Christ did to inspire faith and love, that was how important He sees these things.

I ate from the Tree of Life (agreeing to ABORT_ION) and often foolishly kept returning to the fruit of the Tree of Know_Ledge (for various reasons)

Tree of Knowledge

So, I have continued down the pathway to a search for truth incorporating various religious perspectives, science and all worldviews. I do agree that some philosophies, 'leaves you fathoming in the depths of a puddle'. I see a lot of mystery, even though many wish to see philosophy as solving the mysteries in a neat way.

Well, you appear to be on a good path then. When it comes to all world religions I believe that all have been influenced by the Divine in some way and have come to form these various religions within the cultures of the world, although I have my doubts about Islam.

The Truth remains, to know GOD is via Christ so I encourage U to see Him as your guiding light if ever you are TESTED as I have been.

[Impenitent]

"No victor believes in chance" - Nietzsche

-Imp

[Jack Daydream]

Not sure why you make a distinction between "chance meetings" and "the common occurrence of thinking of someone just as they pick up the phone and other 'unusual' experiences". Because it's more "common"? How is that relevant?

Following seems to be a solid definition of "superstition" as to what's being discussed here:
"a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event".

How is what's being discussed here not fit that definition of "superstition" and why do you believe that it's not likewise "a problem"?



Which is why I wrote "unknown/supernatural force". You seem to believe that this is of some significance, but I'm at a loss as to what that might be.

Each of us probably understands and interprets life experiences differently. My connection between 'chance meetings' and experiences of a person phoning just as they were thinking of them are ones I am familiar with, and ones people describe to me. Maybe, you have never had the phone experience. In experience, a lot of interpretation is about working out what is significant and what is not.

In the example of chance meetings, so many people are met on a daily basis and some will play a significant role in life and others will not. Personally, I have found that sometimes the people who become close friends are met in the strangest circumstances.

For example, someone who is my closest friend was someone I knew at school but not very well. However, I saw her a few years later and while we were talking her shoe broke. She came home to see if my mother had a suitable pair of shoes for her to borrow and that is how I got to know her. Similarly, one friend I got to know was someone who was moving out from the room which I was moving into. You may think that I am blowing these examples out of proportion but I find it hard to find friends even when I go to places and events for that specific purpose.

Your definition of superstition is interesting because it draws on the primitive idea of sympathetic magic. That is because it is about seeing relationships and working with underlying patterns for effects. The most obvious example is voodoo magic. Historically, superstitions about certain numbers etc was a watered down version of this. Nevertheless, there are certain underlying sympathies in nature. For instance, often people who have body transplant parts of another, such as a kidney, find that the part fails on the death of the original owner. It is part of the way of interconnectedness in nature.

You seem to think that I read too much into your remark about the 'supernatural' or 'force'. That is because I grew up in a Catholic background with a belief that God has a specific path for each person. I have changed my belief system many times and do query the idea of what is the supernatural. I do think that there may be some underlying consciousness, or divinity, underlying all nature but rather than it being simply transcendent as 'supernature', see it as being imminent in nature itself.

For instance, often people who have body transplant parts of another, such as a kidney, find that the part fails on the death of the original owner. It is part of the way of interconnectedness in nature.

What leads you to believe that this is true?

I do think that there may be some underlying consciousness, or divinity, underlying all nature but rather than it being simply transcendent as 'supernature', see it as being imminent in nature itself.

What leads you to believe that this is true?


On a different tack, considering what you've been writing thus far as a whole, I've been trying to figure out whether or not the distinctions you make are based on reason. Based on your responses thus far, this does not seem to be the case. Have you considered taking a step back seeing if you can synthesize your thoughts into a coherent whole?

I am sure that some of my arguments are not backed up by evidence. If I was writing a thesis or report it would matter. As it is, I am writing on a philosophy forum, which is from my point of view a way of sharing ideas with others. I have been writing on forums since the time of lockdown and see it as a way of expansion and reflection of thought.

As far inconsistencies, I am a human being not a thinking machine, so I have many. Through forum discussion, I feel that I become more aware of these, especially my own philosophical blindspots.

Philosophy is hard and I am not just into philosophy as academia, but as a means of understanding life informed by critical awareness of ideas. Philosophy is not easy and the topic of whether what happens in life is coincidental, accidental or something more, is one which can be extremely perplexing. Some find solutions in religious thinking or other viewpoints but I see understanding life as being an ongoing quest.

[Jack Daydream]

I am all in favour of cumulative evidence but it is not easy to demonstrate always. A lot of my own thinking is based on life experience, which is often dismissed within philosophy as lacking objectivity. I do often wonder about giving up on philosophy writing and writing fiction because it has more creative freedom. Philosophy is becoming almost an appendix to science.

Sounds like a good idea re writing fiction rather than philosophy unless you have something original to offer re love of wisdom.

My little foray was with a cyberpunk book - Alpha Two which you can check out here: https://www.androcies.com/alphatwo.php

What genre of fiction would you be interested in writing? You could make something out of the synchronicities you account for below re school and universe_city.

(I am currently recoding the website, in between other tasks such as painting).

I am sorry that you got labelled by a professional as 'delusional'.

Nothing to be sorry about Jack, I am in no way delusional. The truth of the matter is that I diagnosed myself for the psychiatrist. I finished up working for NEC in 2017 when I was forced out of work in the office - letters on my screen started scrambling and 'people' calling out "do art". So I quit. I needed to get the govnt off of my back to find another job so I decided to see a shrink. I told him my story that started in 1997 and that I need a medical certificate to get the govt to give me money so I could work for Jesus ! I said to him do I need to see you and not just a psychologist, thus I am required to take pills to get a certificate. He said yes, govt requirement. He said so you don't think there is anything mentally wrong with you, I said I know there is nothing wrong with my Brian Brain but then define schizophrenia, maybe it's God screwing with people? He said so I have to put something on the certificate, shall I put schizophrenia - I said sure. As I said I made a shed load of money out of it, I didn't real eyes I had two insurances with my two super funds! (I didn't take the pills, although maybe there was a red one somewhere..)

Prior to the "diagnosis" I had been redrawing on my mortgage for living expenses. I said to God\sage I need money if you want me to do this art thang. A couple of days later there was a deposit of $4500 in my account with the transaction title BT Portfolio (BT is my true initials DO_U_BT?)..of course I didn't find the time to follow this up with the bank

I think that I became close to delusional while I was at school and at university. That is because I was struggling to come to terms with horrible premonitions and synchronicities. I had a number of premonitions of people's deaths a short while before they died, including my headmaster. As so many were in a short period of time and I could not explain them I worried briefly that it was me causing the deaths. However, I was able to reason that was unlikely.

Totally agree that would be unlikely, but perhaps GOD was attempting to wise U up about something, death isn't so terrible and there may have been a positive reason for these synchronicities.

Reality is a convoluted apparition of the Truth.

It was my experience of premonitions and synchronicities which stopped me going down the path of atheistic materialism. For a long while, I held onto conventional Christian beliefs but it then became apparent that many mainstream Christian beliefs were too literalistic.

Absolutely. The important thing about being a Christian is doing it your way. Forget all the bigotry and crap that all the versions of the 'church' come in. The important thing is to believe in what Christ did to inspire faith and love, that was how important He sees these things.

I ate from the Tree of Life (agreeing to ABORT_ION) and often foolishly kept returning to the fruit of the Tree of Know_Ledge (for various reasons)

Tree of Knowledge

So, I have continued down the pathway to a search for truth incorporating various religious perspectives, science and all worldviews. I do agree that some philosophies, 'leaves you fathoming in the depths of a puddle'. I see a lot of mystery, even though many wish to see philosophy as solving the mysteries in a neat way.

Well, you appear to be on a good path then. When it comes to all world religions I believe that all have been influenced by the Divine in some way and have come to form these various religions within the cultures of the world, although I have my doubts about Islam.

The Truth remains, to know GOD is via Christ so I encourage U to see Him as your guiding light if ever you are TESTED as I have been.

I find a lot of tension between the pull towards fiction and philosophy, or non-fiction. Prior to lockdown, I used to read a lot of philosophy alone but write short fiction in creative writing groups. At the present time, I go to creative writing groups again but find I end up writing philosophy mostly.

I was impressed by your link to fiction you created. As for what genre I would like to write, I think fantasy or steampunk. However, I would like to write philosophical fiction. I have gone round and round in circles at times on philosophy forums, and some of the discussion seems to be going at small tangents over and over again. To some extent, it seems to be people trying to win arguments but some of the knots and tangents matter in deeper understanding. In the last few weeks, I have stopped writing on philosophy sites, but, then, created this thread on a site I hadn't written on as an experiment.

Generally, the tension between fiction and philosophy is complex because life is immersed in stories. So, all philosophy is constructed in a background of narratives. Also, there is the tension between reflecting, writing and dealing with life and its dramas. I love writing but am not free to do this full-time as I need to find work. However, I have not managed to find work despite trying, so I keep coming back to writing.

The relationship between religion and philosophy is complicated. When I was a student I used to attend Christian Union. It was at this stage that I began questioning, especially as I knew a lot of people with religious psychoses. I also went onto train in mental health nursing. There are such different approaches to religion amongst mental health professionals as amongst people generally in the pluralism of the twentieth first century.

Christianity is my starting point but I do look to comparative religion, especially as so much of philosophy searching starts with one's cultural roots. What I do find important in the Judaeo-Christian perspective is the idea of God's interaction with humanity. This allows for synchronicities and God having an interactive relationship with human beings.

Currently, my own encounters have led me into knowing members of the Jewish community. It has made me aware of my lack of knowledge of the OT in its historical and geographical context. The history of religion is important and I am also interested in the tension between mainstream and esoteric religion, including esoteric Christianity.

[Jack Daydream]

"No victor believes in chance" - Nietzsche

-Imp

I'm glad Nietzsche gets included, as a poetic and romantic poet. Dare I say it, if he wrote on a philosophy forum he would probably be ridiculed.

[Age]

My understanding of coincidence is that it involves randomness and chance. Carl Jung spoke of synchronicity, which he saw as being about meaningful connections. However, he did not see it as involving causality itself. If anything, it would involve patterns and connections. For example, precognitive experiences may involve tuning into patterns at the perceptual level.

I am inclined to go further than Jung, in suggesting that nothing is coincidence. This would go as far as the idea that evolution is not random. Every action, at the causal level, involves complex pathways and is likely beyond the physical. It is hard to know how it works exactly, because everything is situated in chains of causality, in space and time. However, 'mind' itself, and that includes intention is an aspect of this. All that is manifest in life experiences is bound up with the narrative self. It is hard to know whether the narrative self is an emergent process or at the core of manifestation, as a form of 'destiny'. What do you think about this, about chance and whether coincidences exist?

Absolutely every thing that 'appears' to be by 'chance', and/or a 'coincidence', is just only what could have, and would have, and/or will have happened in this One and only 'evolutionary-reactionary Creation process' a/long 'the way' to what 'it' is that every wants, or desires, which is; to live in peace and harmony, as One.

Even the fact that through the 'action/re-action evolution process' created, not by 'chance', and organic organism with the ability to learn absolutely any and every thing, the ability to store, and retrieve, knowledge and information, and the ability 'to just choose' was ALL part of the plan for 'Me' to have, already, come-to-know, (thy), Self, to-create what 'I' Truly want and desire for, (thy), Self, and to bear witness to, and Observe, always, the Creation that 'I' am Creating, HERE-NOW.

[Age]

The concept of coincidence is a psychological misunderstanding of statistics. That is, it functions to provide an "explanation" of something that doesn't require an "explanation". Namely that statistically unlikely events occur routinely (at their statistically low rates).

But, obviously, there is absolutely no thing that 'requires' an 'explanation'.

you human beings, however, are a species, and the only known one to you, that within there is, or was, an unquenchable thirst for knowing, knowledge and understanding.

Thus, you human beings are the only ones who have an apparent 'requirement' for 'explanations'. As just watching any younger child, fully, properly, Correctly, or OPENLY, will lay absolute testament to.