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WHAT IF: ‘COINCIDENTALISM’ IS REAL?

By February 9, 2016March 6th, 2021Philosophy

Suppose there was that night when a car with no headlights raced through the intersection, against a red light and just missed hitting you. Suppose, or what if, it didn’t miss?

What if that time a stranger’s Heimlich maneuver saved you from choking on a powder sugar donut – went down differently?

What if that cancer treatment, combat mission or parachute jump — left you horizontal, rather than a fortunate survivor?

Now consider this. What if when you die you reappear — seamlessly and unknowingly — in another parallel dimension or universe within a greater “multiverse?”

This is “coincidentalism.” And it could happen over and over, depending on your misfortune, daredevil antics, suicidal tendencies or other deadly circumstances. Whereby, your dead body is left behind in a you-less universe and your alive doppelganger takes up residence without skipping a beat in one of the infinite, coinciding universes.

Sadly, you’d leave behind your mourning family and friends; then again, in the universe in which you just jumped, you and they would be the same folks who are so grateful you survived. And in your new reality and everyone’s “collective unconscious,” no one would be the wiser.

This might also make sense of those otherwise inexplicable circumstances and coincidences. Call them universal glitches or crossovers: Like when the same song is playing on three stations at once; the phone rings just as you’re about to call that person; medical professionals call it a “miracle” when you survive a massive heart attack; you think you see your deceased loved one in a crowd or a dream. You get the idea.

Life is full of coincidences, right?

6 Comments

  • Gary says:

    Really made me think. Thanks.

  • Teri Kirksey says:

    Wow! Now there is some food for thought. I am a firm believer in an afterlife. (Or the continuation of one’s former life).

  • Lucy Fisher says:

    This was a good one, Stu. Read it slowly the second time around.

  • ed says:

    Well a lot of people are hoping for a second chance, maybe just makes sure to make this go around something you can be proud of.

  • Lisa Youngs says:

    Thanks Stuart! How am I going to sleep tonight? Actually, your words took me back to when I was about 7 or 8 years old…I had this weird sense that maybe everything around me was all my own creation, and would disappear in a moment if I became TOO sentient. Weird little kid, I know – it was probably all those powder-sugar donuts.

  • Tracy Huddleson says:

    I’ll drink to that!

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