Brains Seek Patterns in Coincidences
Authors: Beitman Bernard D. 
Published: June 2009

CME Educational Objectives

1.
Evaluate evidence that the brain seeks order.

2.
Express how basic attractor patterns and bias influence the meaning of coincidences.

3.
Identify how hemispheric lateralization influences coincidence detection and interpretation.

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This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of Vindico Medical Education and PSYCHIATRIC ANNALS. Vindico Medical Education is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Vindico Medical Education designates this educational activity for a maximum of 3
AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Full Disclosure Policy

In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's Standards for Commercial Support, all CME providers are required to disclose to the activity audience the
relevant financial relationships
of the planners, teachers, and authors involved in the development of CME content. An individual has a relevant financial relationship if he or she has a financial relationship in any amount occurring in the last 12 months with a commercial interest whose products or services are discussed in the CME activity content over which the individual has control. Relationship information appears at the beginning of each CME-accredited article in this issue.

Unlabeled and Investigational Usage
The audience is advised that this continuing medical education activity may contain references to unlabeled uses of FDA-approved products or to products not approved by the FDA for use in the United States. The faculty members have been made aware of their obligation to disclose such usage.

Educational Objectives Overview
We tend to be delighted, surprised, or puzzled by coincidences that happen to us (but not so much to others, which we tend to explain as merely a coincidence). The series of articles on the experience of reacting to coincidences provides a different window into how our brains and minds work. Perhaps when explanatory models about weird coincidence experiences become dysregulated, psychopathology (eg, paranoia) can result.
Note that in the Beitman article, the story about John Snow finding that the Broad Street pump was the cause of a cholera outbreak, although quite interesting, may not be as true as most might think. By mapping the outbreak, Dr. Snow identified the pump as the cause of cholera. He removed the pump, and the cholera epidemic diminished. But as detailed by Tufte, the rate of cholera was decreasing before the water pump was removed, which is a good example of finding a relationship where one did not necessarily exist.

Table of Contents

255
Brains Seek Patterns in Coincidences

Bernard D. Beitman, MD

265
Weird Coincidences Commonly Occur

Stephanie L. Coleman; Bernard D. Beitman, MD: and Elif Celebi, MD

271
Characterizing High-frequency Coincidence Detectors

Stephanie L. Coleman; and Bernard D. Beitman, MD

280
Synchroners, High Emotion, and Coincidence Interpretation

Bernard D. Beitman, MD; and Albert Shaw, MD

287
Synchronicity and Psychotherapy: Jung's Concept and Its Use in Clinical Work

Robert H. Hopcke, MFT

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Psychiatric Annals
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Psychiatric Annals
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Psychiatric Annals
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Psychiatric Annals
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