A Concise Guide to Coincidence Studies (2024)

Here is a list of quotes that illustrate some of the key ideas of Coincidence Studies.

Describing Coincidences

• Information swirls in your mind and in your surroundings. For a moment, they match. Coincidence.
• Two events come together that are meaningfully related but have no apparent causal connection.
• What are the main meanings in a meaningful coincidence? Usefulness and Explanation.
• "Having no unusual coincidence is far more unusual than any coincidence could possibly be."—Isaac Asimov
• "A certain man once lost a diamond cuff-link in the wide blue sea, and twenty years later, on the exact day, a Friday apparently, he was eating a large fish—but there was no diamond inside. That’s what I like about coincidence.” ―Vladimir Nabokov, Laughter in the Dark

Psychocoincidology: Psychology of Coincidences

• "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action." —Ian Fleming, Goldfinger
• When seeing an ambiguous coincidence, we fill in the gaps with familiar ideas.
• "Explain coincidences," said the student. "God or chance," said the teacher. "Which one?" asked the student. "Whichever suits you," said the teacher. "Neither can be disproved until you find a cause."
• "Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together? Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences." ―Emery Allen
• The more coincidences you see, the more aware of the Greater Mind you become. As you become aware of the Greater Mind, the more coincidences you see.
• Coinciders experience coincidences. As "co-insiders," they become members of the Coincidence Society.

Using

• "Coincidences are a true paradox... on the one hand, they seem to be the source of our greatest irrationalities—seeing causal connections when science tells us they aren't there. On the other hand, some of our greatest feats of scientific discovery depend on coincidences."—Josh Tenenbaum
• Coincidences:
  • reveal latent human abilities
  • call our attention to the symbols surrounding us.
  • shoot the arrows of our curiosity into higher consciousness,
  • highlight the relationships between context and mind

  • alert us to the mysterious hiding in plain sight.

    See Also

    Once Is An Accident, Twice Is A Coincidence, Three Times - A Pattern - Maraculate - Be More Chill

  • perpetuate our childhood sense of wonder.

  • are signposts not directives

• "Waking consciousness is not as smart as the subconscious." —Rudolph Steiner
• Deciding which intuitive messages to trust is like deciding which suggestions to accept from people who care about you.

Increasing Coincidence Frequency

• "Listen to the chatter of synchronicities that rush through the undercurrent of our daily lives." —Trish and Rob McGregor
• Coincidences are not exotic flowers growing only under special circumstances. They are wildflowers popping up all around us. Once you get used to seeing them under special circumstances, you can begin to see them in daily life.
• Create coincidentiality—situations that increase the likelihood of coincidences happening
  • The dog that trots about finds a bone especially near the butcher's shop.
  • Tear the web of regular reality, and coincidences come flying in.
  • A synchronicity unexamined is like a letter unopened.
  • Expecting the unexpected makes coincidences a regular part of daily life.

Explanations

• Low probability coincidences deserve a search for an explanation.
• Before reaching for divine explanations or settling for statistical simplicity, look for possibilities within yourself---including the capacity to access knowledge beyond your conscious memory and five senses.
• If there is a cause, it is no coincidence.
• "Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys." — Emma Bull
• "Chance. Stupid, dumb, blind chance. Just a part of the strange mechanism of the world, with its fits and coughs and starts and random collisions." ―Lauren Oliver, Before I Fall
• "Chance, that comedian with perfect timing." —Richard Powers, The Overstory, p. 428
• "Le hasard, c'est peut-être le pseudonyme de Dieu quand il ne veut pas signer.” ("Chance is perhaps the pseudonym of God when he does not want to sign." ―Théophile Gautier, The Cross of Berny or Irene's Lovers
• "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous." — Albert Einstein
• Dark matter and dark energy must exist because of the impacts they have on galaxies. Their composition is currently unknown. The Psychosphere must exist because psi is real. Its composition is currently unknown.
• "The concept of randomness and coincidence will be obsolete when people can finally define a formulation of patterned interaction between all things within the universe." ―Toba Beta, Betelgeuse Incident
• We create many synchronicities but have not yet figured out how we do it.

(Note: The unattributed statements are mine.)