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Benedict Arnold

Do You Like Magical Thinking?

The term ‘magical’ tends to be something of a put-down…however, Carl Jung (1875-1961) gave the concept validity when he came up with his term SYCHRONICITY, or meaningful coincidence.

* * *

So, do you ever feel like the universe is sending you a (beautiful) message?

Here is Carl Jung’s story:
He had a client who just DID NOT believe in dreams, and of course dreams are really his thing….
So, the cynical doubter was relating her latest dream, which involved a magnificent scarab beetle in ancient Egypt, or something like that.

Well just at that instant, a real-live scarab in all his or her colorful glory flew in the window to join the proceedings! The dreaming doubter was so impressed all her skepticism evaporated, and the therapy went along just fine after that.

* * *

And as for me, yes. I love magical thinking/synchronicity, and use it often!

Posted - April 2, 2017
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Responses


  • I agree... I once had it described as a telephone system that we can occasionally tap into and receive messages... The funny thing is quantum theory seems to reinforce the idea... At least to my understanding
      April 2, 2017 5:00 PM MDT
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  • Ha ha, Ozgirl I have wondered the same thing...about quantum field theory...lately, I have even been going on YouTube/NOVA and such to see what I can learn!
      April 2, 2017 5:02 PM MDT
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  • I think the next few years are going to be ground breaking times..
     Some scientists have come up with a new view point that explains a lot of the issues... The multiverse.

     What we see happening here is caused by interactions between the same particle existing in multiple universes... Apparently it explains a lot of quantum effects
      April 2, 2017 5:07 PM MDT
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  • Hi Ozgirl, I did see an interesting panel where Max Tegmark is really convinced that ALL possible outcomes actually do occur, but in as many different universes!
    I have not really warmed to the idea of multiverses, at least not yet, but keeping an open mind! In a universe that includes things like fractal geometry, well why not...
      April 2, 2017 5:46 PM MDT
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  • Yep... Open mind... It's all new still
      April 2, 2017 5:50 PM MDT
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  • It is not a matter of one liking magical thinking or not.  It is a matter of whether magical thinking is true or specious. 
      April 2, 2017 5:14 PM MDT
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  • Hi Whistle6, yes magical thinking can be specious, for sure...but...well...is it ALWAYS so?
    I am myself coming more around to asking, well, is there any context(s) in which magical thinking is valid?

    Anyway, if you have further thoughts I would be delighted, and ty!
      April 2, 2017 5:49 PM MDT
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  • In any serious discussion the terms of the discussion must be clear.  Therefore I'd need to know how you define "magical thinking" and in what context are you applying it.
      April 2, 2017 9:24 PM MDT
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  • Hi Whistle6, on the Noetic Sciences website I came across what seems to me a workable definition of magical thinking, this is a quote from the psychologist William James in 1902...

    "…states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority."

    http://noetic.org/about/what-are-noetic-sciences

    There is actually a non-frivolous reason for this Q, and that is our valiant efforts toward reason as a foundation for our lives have not been successful; in fact, we ended up with the most violent century in our history just ended...here is one book I myself have used in attempting to understand what is going on; the idea that humankind is not basically a rational being...got this title from a user on the old Ask.com...

      April 3, 2017 6:40 AM MDT
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  • 5835
    Freud and Jung have no connection to science. Theirs is a business of guessing at what people think.
      April 2, 2017 7:13 PM MDT
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  • Yup!
      April 2, 2017 10:03 PM MDT
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  • THAT response is exquisitely wondrous and beautiful...ringing/resonating of a splendorous reality...I am copying it for my special ASK file...with your permission?
      April 2, 2017 7:36 PM MDT
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  • 3191
    Beautifully said, WW.  :)
      April 2, 2017 8:02 PM MDT
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  • 3191
    Most welcome.  :)
      April 2, 2017 8:30 PM MDT
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  • 3191
    Yeppers.  It goes by many names, depending upon who is doing the labeling, and it includes a wide range of phenomena.  Coincidence, magical thinking, synchronicity, supernatural, paranormal, psychic ability, law of attraction, guardian angel, God... 

    Having experienced many such things, I know they happen, and have looked into Noetics and Quantum Mechanics, and I think science may be on the periphery of understanding them.  I have had many discussions about things I have experienced with skeptics who insist that there must be a rational explanation.  I do not disagree with that, I simply point out that because science has not yet discovered that rational explanation doesn't negate its existence.  

    I am one who likes to know the whys of things, and the mechanics of how things work.  I also love the unadulterated wonder, joy and acceptance of the unexplainable that children feel, and have been reclaiming my capacity for that.  The two may appear to be paradoxical,  but I think they dovetail harmoniously.   This post was edited by Bozette at April 3, 2017 5:54 AM MDT
      April 2, 2017 7:57 PM MDT
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  • Beautiful, Bozette. I went to the website for Noetics, and found this:
    '...it was the trip back home that Mitchell recalls most, during which he felt a profound sense of universal connectedness—what he later described as a samadhi experience. ...“The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident based on random processes. . . .The knowledge came to me directly.” '
      April 3, 2017 6:05 AM MDT
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  • 7683
    Hi Virginia...beautiful question;)) I always let go myself in flights of fanciful imagination...when I write I expect the reader to relate to the local situation I portray by sitting in their own homes thousand miles away! Juxtaposing fiction with reality is exciting and endearing....I do love to pen short poems, articles when I am bewitched almost in a spell of something almost a fantasy....that is my interpretation of magical thinking!
      April 2, 2017 9:38 PM MDT
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  • And a lovely interpretation too, Dear Veena.K!
    Thank you...
      April 3, 2017 6:44 AM MDT
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  • 22891
    not sure what that is
      April 2, 2017 9:45 PM MDT
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  • Hi Dear Pearl,
    I think maybe magical thinking might be different for each of us...do you ever believe in fairies, or elves, or maybe just something wonderful happens, and there is no logical reason for it?
      April 3, 2017 6:27 AM MDT
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  • I've been known to indulge but I'm not always the most logical person. Logic and fantasy often clash as I blunder along and I'm not quite sure which is winning at any given time.

    Synchronicity? Exciting idea. Jung was unique. He could present the most dubious ideas in such a reasonable way that it would be a brave person who rejected them out of hand. 

    So I'll continue to enjoy my magical thinking even though I'm not always prepared to defend it. 
      April 2, 2017 10:25 PM MDT
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  • Dozy, yes I have appreciated Carl Jung also...the reasonableness was a bridge for me when I needed that. And apparently, he conducted his work with the purpose of introducing the largely undocumented reaches of human psyche into mainstream science respectability. 

    I have heard that he himself personally/privately went much further than that, actually something of a mystic...rumour only, have not seen that fully documented.
      April 3, 2017 6:24 AM MDT
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  • There was a particularly interesting comment about poltergeists during a discussion with Freud. Can't recall it but if I get time to track it down (we're travelling south today) I'll pass it on. 
      April 3, 2017 2:54 PM MDT
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  • Dozy, yes if you have the opportunity it would be fun to see that one!
      April 3, 2017 2:57 PM MDT
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