Time insanity

Okay, it’s all about me this week. The Library of Congress has selected yours truly for inclusion in the United States Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Wow! And what took so long? Yeah, I wonder why myself, but at least they finally recognized my, er…, attribute.

Well, maybe I haven’t been selected just yet, but it’s doubtlessly coming because I have something called “synchronicity.” No, it’s not The Police’s fifth album of the same name, which the LOC recognized as culturally significant. 

Most of the time when I look at my watch or a clock, the time is exactly on the hour. It’s developed over the past few years while I have been on the miracle drug Libtayo. I’m not going to say it happens every time, but probably 90% of the time. I researched it on the Internet and now I know more useless information than ever.

The phenomenon was given the name synchronicity by psychologist Carl Jung to describe uncanny coincidences that seem to be meaningful. The Greek roots are syn-, “together,” and khronos, “time.” I’m going to quote Wikipedia because why not? “Synchronicity experiences refer to one’s subjective experience whereby coincidences between events in one’s mind and the outside world may be causally unrelated, yet have another unknown connection. Jung held this was a healthy function of the mind that can become harmful within psychosis.” Ruh roh! Psychosis? My wife says I’m crazy, but I always thought it was her! Maybe she’s been right all of these years. But she married me when I had six kids in the house, so I still think she is crazier than I am.

“Johansen and Osman write that prevalent among many scientists, particularly psychologists studying coincidences, is [the view] that the occurrence of coincidences, as psychologically experienced, is induced by noisy chance occurrences out in the world which are then misconstrued via irrational cognitive biases into unfounded, possibly even paranormal, beliefs in the mind.” (Wikipedia again.) Now that’s a bunch of classic psychobabble. I just think it’s a peculiar thing that I’m experiencing. 

I first heard of synchronicity when The Police released their album of the same name in 1983. I actually went to hear The Police in concert years ago. That album had “Every Breath You Take,” “King of Pain,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” and “Synchronicity II,” among other songs. “Every Breath You Take” is a stalker song, but you know that from a previous column I wrote. 

The album gets its name from Carl Jung through Arthur Koestler, who wrote The Roots of Coincidence, which Sting, the singer in The Police, read. It is a primer of theories of parapsychology, including extrasensory perception and psychokinesis. Koestler analyzes links between modern physics and their interaction with time and paranormal phenomena. And no, I’ve never seen a ghost or apparition at any time, especially not at the top of the hour. 

Am I crazy or headed that way? Probably. But on this issue, I prefer Jimmy Buffet’s song, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes: “If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane.”

 Kelly Burke, attorney, former district attorney, and magistrate judge, writes about the law, rock’ n’ roll, politics or anything that strikes him. Contact Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com to comment on this article or suggest articles that you’d like to see, and visit his website at www.kellyrburke.com for an archive of past columns.