On Complex Synchronized Behaviors
Written 06/23/22
Published 11/20/23
I want to use the word "synchronicity" but I need to define it very clearly. I'm honestly not entirely sure what this word is supposed to mean to some types of people, but I think of it in a very specific context.
I say "Hello!" to 2 of my friends. They both hear this at roughly the same time, and some sort of pattern of neurons firing relays this information to their conscious experience. I am aware that relativity emphasizes the impact of perspective in relation to perceived time.
The point is that there is a pattern of some sort which happens in the minds of both friends at the same approximate time, in response to the same given source of information (me saying "Hello!") so that they may both respond back in a timely fashion. This kind of "synchronicity" is essential to functional communication and conceptualizing individual events as they occur in real time.
The (True) fact that I know they will both actually hear and understand me motivates my action to instantiate conversation. If nobody could properly react and respond quickly, communication would be tedious and chaotic.
If I am talking about some arbitrary concept, like synchronicity for example, I want to know that what I am saying is being understood by my audience. Therefore it is important to articulate my speech carefully so as to maintain the communication properly and avoid possible distractions.
Often times breakdown of communication is caused by misinterpretation or superfluous information. It is important to understand the mind of the audience and what might be going through their heads while I am communicating.
I know that when I say the word "synchronicity," some people may interpret this as some sort of spiritual or astrology term. I am making it abundantly clear that this is not what I am referring to because I know people will misinterpret it. I want people to experience synchronicity when I explain synchronicity.
In the context I just used the term it actually relates to a broader concept, where regardless of the actual time that people may have some particular experience, the fundamental relationship is between the source of information and the overall experience of the entire given audience.
If people read this at different points in time, they are still experiencing the same general effect of "synchronicity" that I am describing, where each person may have a unique perspective, but there are commonalities between the perspectives which, in a sense, these commonalities collectively define the meaning of the source information (to the audience).
The cells in your body experience synchronicity by virtue of the fact that they all share the same structure of DNA, and this manifests as uniform systems of skin and tissues and muscles that respond to stimuli in unison.
The most general way I can conceive of describing this phenomenon is when 2 or more instances of some structure emerge in response to exactly 1 given source of information. If there are more than 1 source of information, the structure is not "synchronized" to any particular source, but this would rather describe the behavior of some arbitrary complex system. If the definition of the information is chaotic or uncertain, any instances of emergent structure could rather be described as coincidence.
I would also like to note that I have referred to it as "experiencing" synchronicity. The point is that the synchronicity is exactly that which you cannot experience. It is the highly ordered structure of information which allows emergent connections to exist between conscious entities; that from which experience manifests. Synchronization is that which is necessarily True in order for complex interactions to occur, such as complex consciousness or communication.
