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Meaningful Coincidences: How and Why Synchronicity and Serendipity Happen
- Type
- Book
- By
- Bernard Beitman
- Publisher
- Park Street Press
- Source
- Park Street Press
- Published
- 2022
Beitman's fuller statement: a psychiatrist's case that meaningful coincidences are common, describable, and worth studying rather than dismissing.
Meaningful Coincidences (2022) is Bernard Beitman's most complete statement of the project he has spent his career on: turning coincidence into something you can study. He proposes a taxonomy — serendipity, synchronicity, and the like — and draws on the thousands of stories collected by his Coincidence Project.
The book is the clearest case for treating meaningful coincidence as a legitimate field rather than a curiosity. The skeptical caveat is built into the method: it is case collection and self-report, not controlled demonstration. Beitman's achievement is organizational — he has gathered the stories and given them names — even if the deeper mechanism remains unproven.
The meaning
Beitman is the topic's most persistent clinician, and this is his most complete attempt to make coincidence a field of study.
The skeptic
The method remains case collection and self report; no controlled demonstration is offered.
About the author
Psychiatrist and founder of the Coincidence Project, which collects coincidence stories from around the world.
Key takeaways
- Proposes a taxonomy of coincidence types (serendipity, synchronicity, and more).
- Draws on thousands of stories collected by the Coincidence Project.
- Makes the case for coincidence studies as a legitimate discipline.