![[Main Page]](/skins/common/images/wiki.png)
Synchronicity is Carl Jung's most boffo idea. Jung had a lot of them, but this one is the best.
Simply put, the theory of synchronicity holds that what we see as acausal, unconnected events actually can have meaning. This is not to say that all acausal events hold meaning, or that the same events will hold meaning for all people. But, playing off Jung's theories about the primitive archetypes of humanity, all people have the same underlying mental patterns. These are unconscious, yet accessible to the conscious through things like deja vu and other seemingly incongruous mental tricks.
For example (stolen from Wikipedia): The French writer Émile Deschamps claims in his memoirs that in 1805, he was treated to some plum pudding by a stranger named Monsieur de Fontgibu. Ten years later, the writer encountered plum pudding on the menu of a Paris restaurant and wanted to order some, but the waiter told him that the last dish had already been served to another customer, who turned out to be de Fontgibu. Many years later, in 1832, Émile Deschamps was at a diner and was once again offered plum pudding. He recalled the earlier incident and told his friends that only de Fontgibu was missing to make the setting complete—and in the same instant, the now senile de Fontgibu entered the room.
These unconnected events held meaning for Deschamps, not because he was somehow willing them into being, or that any of the players had an ESP revelation to be at the specific places at their specific times. Instead, they held meaning because the principle characters all knew of the events. It is highly likely that he told the story of the first two encounters before without the third even ever happening, but it doesn't matter, because only that third time does the experience become synchronous.
Synchronicity is also the last studio album by prog-rock band The Police.