Putting the sinn back into synchronicity: some spiritual implications of synchronistic experiences

In this paper I shall present and comment on an extensive series of synchronistic experiences in which spiritual meaning is conspicuously present. I shall bring this spiritual meaning into focus both phenomenologically, through discussing some of the experiencers' own responses to their experiences, and analytically, through teasing out some of the spiritual aspects arguably implicit in synchronicity as such. This neglected spiritual meaning which I hope to elicit is the Sinn that I would like to see put back into synchronicity

Panentheism and the undoing of disenchantment

In this article I draw on historical and conceptual arguments to show, first, that disenchantment and the influential view of the relationship between science and religion to which disenchantment gives rise are rooted in the metaphysics of theism. I then introduce the alternative metaphysical position of panentheism and identify Jungian psychology as an important, if implicit, mid-twentieth-century instance of panentheistic thought. Using the example of Jungian psychology, I demonstrate how the viewpoint of panentheism undoes the implications of disenchantment for the relationship between science and religion, promoting greater opportunities for dialogue and reconciliation between science and religion. I note, however, that these closer relations may depend on understanding science and religion differently from how they are understood under disenchantment. While the original tension between science and religion is eased, another tension – between panentheistic and disenchanted understandings of science and religion – is exposed. I conclude by reflecting on some implications of this discussion for sociology

Research on synchronicity: status and prospects

This chapter provides an overview of existing research on the concept of synchronicity, from which some promising directions for research are then highlighted under various headings: conceptual, empirical, historical, theoretical, clinical, and cultural. Jung defined synchronicity in a variety of ways. Concisely, he defined it as "meaningful coincidence as "acausal parallelism" as "an acausal connecting principle" and once, more poetically, as "the 'rupture of time' ". More fully, he defined it as "the simultaneous occurrence of a certain psychic state with one or more external events which appear as meaningful parallels to the momentary subjective state." Jung's work on synchronicity was also inspired by psychical research and especially by the work of Joseph Banks Rhine in the new discipline of parapsychology. These newer or aspiring sciences have provided significant foci within the work of Mansfield, Storm, and Haule

Myth, synchronicity, and the physical world

In his extensive work on the theories of myth, Robert Segal makes a broad distinction between nineteenth-century theories, which saw myths as primitive attempts to explain the physical world and hence as now superseded by modern science, and twentieth-century theories of myth, which saw myths as serving other purposes than explanation of the physical world and hence as not necessarily incompatible with modern science. Segal suggests that the challenge for twenty-first century theories of myth is to find ways of seeing myths as explanatory of the physical world in a way that is also compatible with modern science. The present chapter focuses on one such approach that Segal discusses: Carl Gustav Jung’s psychological theory of myth when it is allied with his concept of synchronicity. After clarifying the criteria that need to be satisfied for, in Segal’s phrase, ‘bringing myth back to the world’, the chapter critically examines Segal’s own assessment of the Jungian approach in light of this challenge

The ethical ambivalence of holism: An exploration through the thought of Carl Jung and Gilles Deleuze

This chapter examines the disputed ethical status of holism through comparing aspects of the work of Carl Jung and Gilles Deleuze as two twentieth-century thinkers who reflected deeply on the concept of wholeness. Using Jung’s psychology as a sophisticated and influential example of holistic thought, the chapter first highlights relevant holistic features of this model, especially the concepts of the self and unus mundus (one world), and traces the cultural and social benefits that are claimed to flow from such a version of holism. It then confronts Jung’s model with Deleuze’s more constructivist way of thinking about wholes and totality in terms of difference, multiplicity, and pure immanence, which aims to ensure that his concept of the whole remains open. The Deleuzian perspective arguably exposes a number of questionable philosophical assumptions and less salubrious ethical implications in Jung’s holism. In order to assess whether this Deleuzian critique is answerable, the chapter focuses attention on the understanding of transcendence and immanence within each thinker’s model. Distinguishing between theism, pantheism, and panentheism, the author proposes that the metaphysical logic of panentheism can provide a framework that is capable of reconciling the two thinkers’ concepts of the whole

Synchronicity and holism

Carl Gustav Jung’s (1875-1961) concept of synchronicity – designating the experience of meaningful coincidence and the implied principle of acausal connection through meaning – has been extensively discussed and deployed within the field of analytical psychology. However, there has been little success in integrating the concept into frameworks of thought beyond that of analytical psychology or operationalising it within non-Jungian programmes of research. In this article I explore the relationship of synchronicity to holistic thought as one of the more promising directions in which synchronicity could gain greater purchase within wider academic and intellectual culture. The article takes its starting point from the view that Jung’s psychological model is itself a richly articulated form of holistic thought, which would repay study in relation to its core holistic ideas, its affinities with contemporaneous currents of holism, and its influence on subsequent holism. For such a project, clarification of the relationship between synchronicity and holism, which is the principal focus of this article, could be particularly valuable. For synchronicity is, I argue, itself a deeply holistic concept, and one that, far from being a late adjunct to Jung’s psychology, may have been implicit in his thinking about the holistic dynamics of the psyche from the beginning, and in an important sense arguably underpins them

PENGEMBANGAN DESAIN DIDAKTIS TOPIK SUDUT DAN PASANGAN SUDUT PADA GARIS-GARIS SEJAJAR DALAM PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA SMP

Rendahnya kemampuan level berpikir geometri siswa pada jenjang Sekolah Menengah Pertama masih menjadi salah satu masalah dalam pembelajaran matematika. Salah satu faktor penyebabnya adalah desain pembelajaran yang diterapkan guru kurang memperhatikan level berpikir geometri siswa. Salah satu topik dalam geometri yang cukup mendasar adalah topik sudut dan pasangan sudut pada garis-garis sejajar. Namun fakta di lapangan masih ditemukan permasalahan-permasalahan yang dialami siswa pada topik tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan sebuah desain didaktis topik sudut dan pasangan sudut pada garis-garis sejajar di Sekolah Menengah Pertama yang memperhatikan level berpikir geometri siswa. Desain didaktis yang dikembangkan diharapkan dapat mengembangkan kemampuan level berpikir geometri siswa. Kerangka berpikir penelitian ini menggunakan Didactical Design Research (DDR) dengan teknik pengumpulan data melalui tes dan dokumentasi. Implementasi desain didaktis dilakukan pada siswa kelas VII di salah satu SMP Swasta di Kabupaten Cianjur selama 5 pertemuan. Hasil analisis implementasi menunjukan bahwa desain ini dapat mengembangkan kemampuan level berpikir geometri siswa sampai pada level pengurutan (level 2) awal. Desain didaktis ini pun dapat dijadikan salah satu alternatif bahan ajar pada pembelajaran topik sudut dan pasangan sudut pada garis-garis sejajar.;---The low level of geometry thought of students at the Junior High School level was still one of the problems in learning mathematics. One of the contributing factors was that the instructional design applied by the teacher was less attention to the geometric thought of the students. One of the basic topics in geometry is angle and pairs of angles on parallel lines. But the facts in the field still found the problems experienced by students on the topic. Therefore, this study aims to develop a didactic design of angle and pairs of angles on parallel lines in Junior High Schools that pay attention for students' geometric thought. The developed didactic design was to develop the students' geometric thought ability. This research framework used was Didactical Design Research (DDR) and data collection techniques was test and documentation. The implementation of didactic design was done on the grade 7 students in one of the Junior High Schools in Cianjur for 5 meetings. The results of the implementation analysis show that this design can develop the students' geometric thought level up to the level of ordering (level 2). This didactic design can also be used as an alternative teaching material on learning angle topics and pairs of angle on parallel lines

The seeds of divergence: the economy of French North America, 1688 to 1760

Generally, Canada has been ignored in the literature on the colonial origins of divergence with most of the attention going to the United States. Late nineteenth century estimates of income per capita show that Canada was relatively poorer than the United States and that within Canada, the French and Catholic population of Quebec was considerably poorer. Was this gap long standing? Some evidence has been advanced for earlier periods, but it is quite limited and not well-suited for comparison with other societies. This thesis aims to contribute both to Canadian economic history and to comparative work on inequality across nations during the early modern period. With the use of novel prices and wages from Quebec—which was then the largest settlement in Canada and under French rule—a price index, a series of real wages and a measurement of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are constructed. They are used to shed light both on the course of economic development until the French were defeated by the British in 1760 and on standards of living in that colony relative to the mother country, France, as well as the American colonies. The work is divided into three components. The first component relates to the construction of a price index. The absence of such an index has been a thorn in the side of Canadian historians as it has limited the ability of historians to obtain real values of wages, output and living standards. This index shows that prices did not follow any trend and remained at a stable level. However, there were episodes of wide swings—mostly due to wars and the monetary experiment of playing card money. The creation of this index lays the foundation of the next component. The second component constructs a standardized real wage series in the form of welfare ratios (a consumption basket divided by nominal wage rate multiplied by length of work year) to compare Canada with France, England and Colonial America. Two measures are derived. The first relies on a “bare bones” definition of consumption with a large share of land-intensive goods. This measure indicates that Canada was poorer than England and Colonial America and not appreciably richer than France. However, this measure overestimates the relative position of Canada to the Old World because of the strong presence of land-intensive goods. A second measure is created using a “respectable” definition of consumption in which the basket includes a larger share of manufactured goods and capital-intensive goods. This second basket better reflects differences in living standards since the abundance of land in Canada (and Colonial America) made it easy to achieve bare subsistence, but the scarcity of capital and skilled labor made the consumption of luxuries and manufactured goods (clothing, lighting, imported goods) highly expensive. With this measure, the advantage of New France over France evaporates and turns slightly negative. In comparison with Britain and Colonial America, the gap widens appreciably. This element is the most important for future research. By showing a reversal because of a shift to a different type of basket, it shows that Old World and New World comparisons are very sensitive to how we measure the cost of living. Furthermore, there are no sustained improvements in living standards over the period regardless of the measure used. Gaps in living standards observed later in the nineteenth century existed as far back as the seventeenth century. In a wider American perspective that includes the Spanish colonies, Canada fares better. The third component computes a new series for Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is to avoid problems associated with using real wages in the form of welfare ratios which assume a constant labor supply. This assumption is hard to defend in the case of Colonial Canada as there were many signs of increasing industriousness during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The GDP series suggest no long-run trend in living standards (from 1688 to circa 1765). The long peace era of 1713 to 1740 was marked by modest economic growth which offset a steady decline that had started in 1688, but by 1760 (as a result of constant warfare) living standards had sunk below their 1688 levels. These developments are accompanied by observations that suggest that other indicators of living standard declined. The flat-lining of incomes is accompanied by substantial increases in the amount of time worked, rising mortality and rising infant mortality. In addition, comparisons of incomes with the American colonies confirm the results obtained with wages— Canada was considerably poorer. At the end, a long conclusion is provides an exploratory discussion of why Canada would have diverged early on. In structural terms, it is argued that the French colony was plagued by the problem of a small population which prohibited the existence of scale effects. In combination with the fact that it was dispersed throughout the territory, the small population of New France limited the scope for specialization and economies of scale. However, this problem was in part created, and in part aggravated, by institutional factors like seigneurial tenure. The colonial origins of French America’s divergence from the rest of North America are thus partly institutional