Serendipity & synchronicity
View(s):Of all the strange things that have made a lasting impression on yours truly, there are no two more charming concepts than these.
One of them has been much touted as the happy art of making joyful discoveries. Now this ‘serendipity’ is synonymous with a more than pleasant surprise or a fortunate happenstance. The word is attributed to British politician, art historian, and man of letters Horace Walpole, who coined the term to explain a chance but welcome discovery he had made. This antiquarian invoked an amiable Persian legend in which the eponymous Three Princes of Serendip were, according to Walpole, “always making discoveries – by accident or by sagacity – of things of which they were not in quest”. One of their (allegedly) unexpected discoveries was a (ostensibly) blessed isle which they were looking for – but had given up looking for – only to run ashore on it when they had all but abandoned all hope of finding it and were now sailing home…
The Crowned Prince of Serendip
Serendipity has since been one of the names for the same blasted island that is variously called Taprobane or Ceylao or Zeilan or Ceylon.Serendipity has also dotted and spotted human history like a giant cosmic Dalmatian shaking loose its spots to bless an unsuspecting dog lover who doesn’t know Dog exists. Serendipity is when (let us say) an incumbent executive – seemingly trammelled by a constitutional amendment – finds, in that very same legal document that is hamstringing him, a loophole that will allow him to (let us say) contest a presidential election for a third time running. (And he wasn’t even looking, ye princes.)
The other word or concept that has haunted me and dogged my heels like a faithful god (the Hound of Heaven) has been ‘synchronicity’. Conceptualised and articulated by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung almost a century ago, it is perhaps best described as a meaningful coincidence. While the premises of causality are closely interwoven in events that are linked causally, synchronicity is when events that are not causally linked are interconnected in a nexus of meaning and significance in the subject’s mind. Got that, dears?
The Queen of Synchronicity
Synchronicity is when I look at an image of Sri Lanka as seen from space – and on the same day, if not the very hour – discover that Carl Jung had a dream or a vision about a teardrop-shaped island as seen from space. Synchronicity is when I walk into a bookstore – in the same week as the sight, or dream, or vision – and find several rare books by that very same Swiss psychologist – on the very same shelf as a clutch of atlases bearing on their covers the very same satellite image of lachrymose Lanka as seen from space. Synchronicity is also when (let us essay) a former executive president seeking office for a third time as (let us surmise) a common candidate finds that the incumbent has discovered in a constitutional amendment – for which he was not looking, allegedly – that she is ostensibly debarred by the very same clause or clauses that empower him to seek a third term.
Now you might conjecture that serendipity and synchronicity sound suspiciously vis-à-vis, tête-à-tête, or twin-helix intertwined. And you would be right as far as the nexus of politics in the blessed isle is concerned.
For example, the princes of the land were of a mind well disposed to construct a veritably unserviceable southern seaport at about the same time that an emerging regional superpower was seeking a safe westerly harbour for its nuclear subs. (This is serendipity and synchronicity adrift on the high seas, like lost ships together seeking any safe haven in a storm.) Then again, just at a time – not too long out of mind – when the princely clan and their subversive Machiavellis were looking for a uniting factor at a time of national unity (read divisiveness among coalition partners) and signs of peace and prosperity (read uncertainty for the regime), what should crop up but convenient international conspiracies and well-timed or orchestrated internal threats! In the most recent developments, when the most important polls have been mooted and every principal is stooping to conquer the much treasured prize, parties of the third part have (serendipitously? synchronicitically?) discovered that they have principles and have resigned their portfolios. Well, Just Hu do U think you are? (Pardon me, my Freudian slip is showing.)
Then there is the Smart Alec Politico who runs with the hares but hunts with the hounds who (serendichronically? synchronipitously?)discovered just yesterday that the opposition parties’ common candidate is a mole for an international cabal that is gunning for the blessed isle’s well-being and welfare. Well, just who does he think he is, or they are? Walpole? Some Swiss psychologist? The three princes of Serendip? Jung? Freud? By a happy coincidence or fortuitous happenstance, rendering our pundit superfluous, no one is looking for excuses or reasons to prevent anyone from running: cliques, claques, juntas, twice-blessed executives, and all. It’s open season in Serendip, and synchronicity is simply predicting that the same incumbent will come in again. And again. (Serendipity.) And again. (Synchronicity.) Provided the election result is known in advance by dint of a rich mix of serendisynchronicitipitous savagery, and soothsaying as a self-fulfilling prophecy.