Synchronicity 1

Synchronized behavior begins with a shared pattern, and the easiest pattern to share is one we all learn as children: one, two, three, four. The cardinal integers.

People synchronize behavior all the time—when we dance, or when we march in step, or when we make love.

But the surprisingly simple leap from synchronized behavior to synchronized mental activity, or synchronicity, has taken us much longer to discover.

Interlude 1

A: Synchronicity? Synchronized mental activity? What do you mean? Do you mean that we can read each others thoughts?

B: No, not in the sense of "I can know what you are thinking at any moment and at any time."

A: Then what do you mean?

B: Synchronicity, like orgasm, is an experience that you have to feel in order to understand. For instance, I can explain what happens to you physiologically when you have an orgasm, but that explanation is a far cry from the experience of having an orgasm.

A: Then please explain what you mean.

B: Gladly. Synchronicity is an experience of shared mental activity—I also like the phrase synchronized mentation—that occurs when a group of people begin to coordinate their thoughts, actions, and intentions.

A: Sounds bogus to me. How do you know it's not just a collective delusion?

B: That is an excellent question.

Synchronicity 2

To speak of an isolated human consciousness is ludicrous. A human consciousness develops in a social environment, constructed over many years; years of learning, mimicing, socializing, and loving.

Children raised among animals—or, by certain cruel parents, as animals—are forever linguistically retarded, and only ever partially socializable. That simple fact points toward the shared nature of human consciousness.

Further, the way my consciousness works is the same way as yours works. We all have the same conscious wetware. That is why I believe that we can synchronize the patterns of multiple wetwares. In other words, we are capable of synchronicity.

Interlude 2

A: Wait a minute. How is your "synchronized mental activity" related to synchronicity? I just read

Put plainly, synchronicity is the experience of two or more occurrences (beyond coincidentally) in a manner that is logically meaningful—but inexplicable—to the person or persons experiencing them. Such events would also have to suggest an underlying pattern in order to satisfy the definition of synchronicity as developed by Jung.

B: Granted. But Jung's concept contains many components that synchronized mental activity also has.

A: Such as?

B: "Two or more occurrences" of a shared experience. I expand that to two or more occurrences of shared mental activity, occurences that—at first—seem inexplicable.

A: Ok, ok. But you suggest that occurrences of shared mentation can be brought about intentionally.

B: Yes, I do. I believe synchronicity can occur intentionally.

A: I will want some evidence for that claim.

B: Of course you will, Thomas.

A: Very funny.

B: Let me continue. Jung's synchronicity is a "meaningful coincidence," one that produces a wow sensation in those who experience it. Occurrences of synchronized mental activity also have that same wow component: When the experience occurs, you feel like "Wow! Did that just happen?"

A: Ok, I think I get it. Your "synchronicity" encompasses coinciding mental activity. Fine. I'll allow that. And besides, "synchronicity" flows better than "synchronized mental activity."

B: Thank you, how kind.

A: You're welcome.

Synchronicity 3

Jung's synchronicity is an aspect of the idea of the collective unconscious, of the shadowy mental realm which gives birth to myth and metaphor.

(Most of what our mind does is non-conscious mentation. I wonder if the noosphere is similarly constructed and expressed.)

From the article just cited:

[Synchronicity] was a principle that Jung felt encompassed his concepts of archetypes and the collective unconscious, in that it was descriptive of a governing dynamic that underlay the whole of human experience and history—social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual.

(play play play)

And because I I I find "synchronized mental activity" too cumbersome and two sterile, please let me mold a word 2 2 2 suit my meaning: synchro-ni-ci-ty

(three three three)

Is an aspect of our collective consciousness. It is an intentional, as opposed to coincidental, aspect of our communal mind.

Interlude 3

A: The communal mind? Oh, no. Not again.

B: O Bachelor of Scepticism! Please restrain your cynicism! For the Matrix is all around us! Right now. Here! In this room.

A: Don't you change tunes on me now!

B: Ah ha! You see!? Shared culture! Stories! Allegories! History. Our culture. Our sense of nation—all of these phenomena are aspects of our collective consciousness. Ideas, metaphors, and clichés—all aspects of our collective mind.

A: And religion?

B: An excellent example! Religious ideas and metaphors pervade the noosphere. Even if you are not a Christian, if you are an educated homo sapien—

A: Or religiously educated.

B: Yes, if you are an educated person (but I hope you're not home-schooled!) you probably recognize the parable—parables are rich in metaphor, by the way—of the mustard seed (Matthew 13 31) and the parable of the buried treasure (Matthew 13 44). Both from the Christian gospel.

A: Ah, yes. The gentle teachings of Jesus.

B: Yes, those. So different from militant imperial Christianity.

A: Indeed.

Synchronicity 4

How many words does one need to limn an idea?

Call it what you will: call it the communal mind, the noosphere, distributed intelligence, or the waking mind of Gaia.

(How many tests does one run to prove a theory?)

The communal mind may be an untestable hypothesis. And if it is not testable, it is not scientific. And if that's true, the mind of Gaia starts sounding like the idea of God.

(Does three homophony become cacophany?)

And that would trouble me. For my sceptical ears detest untestable hypotheses, and cacophanies, and contradictions, and errors.

(Unless they make me :-)

I believe the collective mind exists. Does that make me a . . . of faith?

Interlude 4

A: Faith!? Please don't go all new age spiritual on me.

B: Would you like to see my collection of crystals?

A: You're joking, right?

B: Getting back to my hypothesis. . .

A: Yes yes. Ok. For the sake of argument, let's say we have a collective mind. So what?

B: You really are a cynic, aren't you?

A: No, just Satan's advocate. Now back to my point. If we have a collective mind, what difference does it make? Do you really think it has causal power? Or put it this way: if our culture and civilization are an aspect of a collective intelligence, why are so many people so god damned stupid?

B: Must you be so harsh?

A: Yes, I must. Read the news. World wide, there doesn't seem to be any intelligence guiding our actions toward peace and enlightenment. There is war, poverty, and an incipient climate catastrophe. There are hordes of people who believe in the literal truth of stone age mythologies—like the imminent resurrection of a two thousand year dead messiah; or, in the other civilization, a hidden imam. These facts, these inconvenient truths—they don't appear to support your intelligent collective hypothesis, now do they?

B: No they do not.

A: Thank you.

B: You're welcome.

Synchronicity 5

Yes, our world is fractured. Yes, our spirit is shadowed. But the noosphere is still young, still fragile, still growing. Intelligence radiates outward and casts the shadows back.

(Can one touch the noosphere? Can one, through will alone, feel the collective mind?)

Can synchronicity bring peace to the world?

Time. Time. Time. Maybe three millenia, maybe more.

For all the neurons of the world long to sing in synchronicity.

Interlude 5

A: "All the neurons of the world?" Do you realize that sometimes you sound like Locutus of Borg?

B: You will be absorbed.

A: No I won't.

B: Resistance is futile.

A: Listen, I know you're joking but you're creeping me out. Take my perspective: you want me to experience a sensation that you call synchronized mental activity, or synchronicity, or whatever! But now listen to this: if I were to come up to you all excited and said you had to try some drug because of the amazing way it made you feel, you—being my friend—would slap some sense into me, right?

B: Of course.

A: Well, then I'm about to slap some sense into you.

B: Be my guest. Please point out my error.

A: Point one: even if we could synchronize our thoughts so that it seemed we were acting with a single consciousness, or it seemed that we were carrying on a conversation without using words, that phenomenon would still be small scale and local. Do you actually think that a localized phenonemenon of shared consciousness could spread beyond the two—

B: Two or more.

A: Fine. Two or more people experiencing it? I assume such a melding of minds would require an intimate relationship, right? Synchronicity could only occur between friends and loved ones, right?

B: Not necessarily, but it helps. Receptiveness and openness are the traits that are required. But, yes, you are perceptive.

A: Don't flatter me. Synchronicity, if it were to occur, would be small scale and local. It couldn't possibly cross continents and oceans, to say nothing of crossing the barriers of culture and language.

B: Continue.

A: I will. Point two: How many languages can you think in at any one time? Thinking happens with words right? Yes, I know. Not all thinking, but much of it. Our awareness is expressed in language. How could a global consciousness possibly express itself in multiple languages?

B: And point three?

A: Point three: you haven't even addressed my original question! How do you know that what you're talking about is not a collective delusion!?

B: Point four?

A: No more.

B: *Sigh*

A: No sighing allowed.

Synchronicity 6

Homophony is defined as

(of a word or words) having the same pronunciation as another or others but different meaning, origin, or spelling.

The number 0 is homophonous with the exclamation oh.

The number 1 is homophonous with the pronoun one.

The number 2 is homophonous with to and too.

The number 3 is homophonous with a three piece suit. And three strikes. And a three-way, uh, conversation.

The number 4 is homophonous with for and metaphor.

The number 5 is homophonous with five-and-dime and five-star and five hundred.

The number 6 is homophonous with sixteen.

The number 7 is homophonous with a convenience store.

It's oh so easy for one to here hear here homophony.

Interlude 6

A: Homophony? I don't hear any homophony. What I hear is you avoiding the question.

B: Oh? What question?

A: Never mind. I think I've figured it out: you're the one who's delusional.

B: You're too harsh. You know how my mind wanders sometimes.

A: Would you like a leash?

B: You have one handy?

A: Yeah, I haven't used it since Fifi died two years ago.

B: I thought that was three years ago.

A: Nope. Two. Seems like forever. Will you please forget about Fifi!

B: She was a fine poodle, even if she only had three legs.

A: Yeah, poor thing. She had a really hard time after that accident.

B: That's right, the car accident. I almost forgot about that.

A: Five years is a long time. That was about the same time you and I met.

B: Five? Oh yeah, that's right. I was only twenty-six.

A: Yep. You were still young and beautiful.

B: You're about to find yourself six feet under.

A: Why? Telling the truth isn't one of the seven deadly sins.

B: No, but being a smart-ass is.

A: In which religion?

B: Oh, god.

A: On, no. God's not gonna help you. You're gonna have to dig your self out of this one.

B: Too true.

Synchronicity 7

A delusion is

• an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary
• a mistaken or unfounded opinion or idea

Many people hold onto delusional propositions: that the Earth is flat, or that the Earth was created in six days, or that complexity demands an intelligent designer.

Delusional propositions are hard to attack, especially if the proposition offers comfort and solace. Religious propositions usually fall under this category. Belief in reincarnation or belief in an afterlife are both comforting propositions that religion sells to fearful, unanalytic minds.

Unfortunately, analysis tends to destroy delusion, and that is why science and religion are often at odds.

Belief in the literal truth of the Bible is delusional. But belief in metaphorical truth is not.

What is a metaphorical truth? Is synchronicity literal or metaphorical?

Interlude 7

A: Man, you're slippery.

B: Like an eel.

A: Yes, but less appetizing. Now you're talking about literal vs. metaphorical truth. And now you want me to play with the idea that your synchronicity may not actually be literally true? That it is only metaphorically true?

B: That is correct.

A: Oh, jeez. Do you actually believe in any concrete facts? Or do you have to muddy every issue?

B: I believe in the power of inquiry.

A: Well, at least we share one belief.

B: Oh, I'm sure we share more than one.

A: Perhaps. But we do not share your belief in synchronicity.

B: Isn't that why we're having this discussion?

A: Yes, but I want proof. I want evidence. The burden is on you to provide evidence in support of your claim. You're being disingenuous by muddying the issue by suggesting that your idea of synchronicity—and, by extension, your idea of the communal mind—is a metaphorical idea. Metaphorical ideas cannot be the subjects of scientific inquiry.

B: Why not?

A: Because I cannot test a metaphorical claim.

B: Some claims cannot be tested.

A: Yes, the claim that the universe was created by a supreme intelligent being is an untestable claim. But we're not talking about God. We're talking about synchronicity.

B: Life is a journey.

A: What?

B: Life is a journey.

A: And what is that?

B: A metaphorical truth.

A: Oh, god.

B: Ahh, deja vu.

A: You too?

Synchronicity 8

Our mind is made of metaphor. Sure, many mentations are literal and solid, constructed of concrete facts. (I am sitting at a chair.) But the moment we begin to generalize, when we mix our thoughts, then we begin a journey to the world of metaphor.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single foot step. (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching)

The world of metaphor: the world of conflation: the world of polysemy: the world of humor: the world of myth.

(The noopshere resounds with the myths of heroic souls, both real and imagined: Prometheus' theft of the immortal fire; Socrates' ceaseless inquiry; the teaching and passion of Christ; Siddhartha's journey from privilege to poverty to peace.)

Query: True or False: Our mind is made of metaphor.

Interlude 8

A: You want me to assent to a metaphorical claim? Be realistic, my friend. Our mind is made of neurons, not metaphors.

B: Pardon me, I was being metaphorical. Maybe I should've said "we think in metaphors."

A: That one I'll agree to. Yes, we think using metaphors. But that does not mean that a metaphorical claim can be tested.

B: Really? Why don't we play with my earlier example, that life is a journey.

A: Why don't we try a simpler one: More is up.

B: And where did you read that?

A: The same place you did. Philosophy in the Flesh.

B: My my. It's almost like I'm talking to myself.

A: I get that feeling all the time.

Synchronicity 9

Across the noosphere, neurons sing and dance and gyre; but rarely do they tire—of (sympathetic vibration)

Across the noosphere, neurons fire and jump and wink; but rarely do they think—of (spreading activation)

a = sympathetic vibration ; b = spreading activation

conjecture: a + b = c

c = (synchronized mental activity | synchronicity)

Test.

Interlude 9

A: You’ve obviously been drinking way too much caffeine.

B: Oh? Why do you say that?

A: Let’s see: metaphors, sympathetic vibration, spreading activation, and synchronized mental activity. Are you on speed?

B: I’m sorry, it’s just that, when my mind starts flyng, I find it hard to focus and stop.

A: Perhaps some lithium? A sleeping pill? Maybe you’re not getting enough sex. . .

B: It’s always sex and drugs with you now, isn’t it?

A: No, not always. Getting back to our discussion, is synchronized mental activity a synonym for synchronicity?

B: You must remember that my use of the term synchronicity is not standard. I cannot, in good conscience, merely make up words or change their definitions at will.

A: Why not?

B: Because once you start changing definitions, then things like this start to happen: innocent death becomes collateral damage; prisoners become unlawful combatants; defense turns into offense; and illegal aggression becomes preemptive war.

A: And once you start down the dark path—

B: Forever will it dominate your destiny! Consume you it will! Like Obi-Wan’s apprentice!

A: Uh, right. You definitely need to get laid.

Synchronicity 10

What caused the cultural revolution, the flowering of art, and the Great Leap Forward?

Are we on the verge of another great leap?

Can we ( hear / feel ) our collective mind?

Can we open the door to an expanded consciousness?

I II III, 1 2 3, one two three: is synchronicity the key?