Nathan Scarbrough
Week 5 Discussion: Coincidence,
Happenstance, Serendipity, or the Hand of God Case Studies in Synchronicity
Let me
stray from the norm here and admit that I very much disliked reading this
article. The authors clearly had strong
views that differed greatly from my own, and while I wanted to believe there
was legitimacy to what I was reading, the further I scrolled, the more I was unfortunately
convinced that this article is little more than the bias opinions of an overly-spiritual
author, searching for spiritual significance where there most likely was none. I
think that the whole concept of synchronicity is a little bit out there for my
tastes. While the author does a commendable job of citing previous theories and
research, I remain unconvinced that this article truly falls under the category
of “scientific.”
Let’s
start with Dan. To make a long story
short, Dan always wanted his own small-press business. He could not afford it, but coincidentally
had a friend who happened to come across a similar business in his legal work
and offered Dan the opportunity to run it.
Is this coincidence? Yes. Is it proof that these events happened for a
significant purpose and were predetermined by God or fate? No. While I am happy that things worked out for Dan,
this article fails to mention the 10,000 deserving journalists world-wide with
the same ambitions that never got the same opportunity as Dan.
Now it’s
Sarah’s turn. Ultimately, Sarah was dissatisfied
with her old job, but through some career counseling managed to build the
courage to seek out alternative positions.
She ends up having recurring dreams about a man in black and 2X4’s and
lo and behold, when she goes to interview for a job, sees a man in black and
some wood. Is this coincidence? Debatably. Is it an act of the divine? Probably not. What this article fails to consider are the dreams
of millions of people that are never manifested.
Finally
we have Billie. Billie wanted a new job
and money for her son to go to college.
She had dreams about a man on a horse crossing a river, and HOLY SHIT,
ended up getting a job near a river with a mascot similar to the man on the
horse in her dream. It isn’t that odd
that this happenstance occurred. What is uncanny is that an academically oriented
scholar found it worthwhile to write an article on instances such as these, and
furthermore had the gall to compare these findings to elements of quantum
physics.
I do
agree with this article that career counseling was beneficial to each of these
clients. I agree that their career
decisions ultimately led them to discover a more meaningful sense of
identity. That being said, I do not
think that the events of three case studies can be considered as proof of the
hand of God or fate in the lives of these individuals. Furthermore, I do not believe that these
results should be generalized to the rest of the population, or that career
counselors should take any extra care to be on the lookout for any instances of
synchronicity within the lives of their clients. I believe that anyone taking this advice
would be committing themselves to a foolish endeavor. It is my belief that certain types of people
are more prone than others to actively search for meaningful connections where
there are none, and that this desperation to label every odd occurrence as
having spiritual significance hinders the progress of science.
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