Science emphasizes the importance of using predictions to verify a theory; after-the-fact reasoning is suspect. Consider that a great many other coincidences might have occurred at the time of the...

Science emphasizes the importance of using predictions to verify a theory; after-the-fact reasoning is suspect. Consider that a great many other coincidences might have occurred at the time of the person’s death: his clock might have stopped (as in Jung’s example), his house might have been damaged by a storm, a stock he owned might have fallen, a friend might have had an accident. There are countless possibilities—so many, in fact, that it might be more surprising if nothing coincidental happened at the moment of the person’s death. Also, we tend to forget the many times when no coincidence occurred. To fi nd one specifi c coincidence like the falling picture and then argue after the fact that this event somehow shows the existence of “synchronicity” is unscientifi c—and, in my opinion, incorrect.