Perfect events in a random world?

Asked Dec 10 '18 at 10:44

Active Apr 10 '19 at 00:13

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I have a friend. They believe that God exists because they have experienced a large amount of 'perfect coincidences', or rather, events that are too perfect to be coincidences.

What kind of cognitive bias/fallacy is this? (They assure that it is not the Availability Heuristic because they remember all coincidences that happened, even the unremarkable ones, but I am not inclined to believe this) Is it confirmation bias? Focusing effect?

Please help.

asked Dec 10 '18 at 10:44

Buddha

Without knowing the specifics of observations made which made him decide these are 'perfect coincidences', it is hard to tell. But, selection bias, in particular 'sampling bias', also comes to mind. If you only include your own experience as a sample, and do not reflect on likelihood of events happening by random chance, then you might unintentionally succumb to selection bias. – Steven Jeuris Dec 10 '18 at 12:09
The observer selection effect also seems relevant, which I would classify as a particular form of selection bias (although I am not certain). – Steven Jeuris Dec 10 '18 at 12:15
@Buddha i think what your friend is describing are called a synchronicities. it's a jungian term referring to meaningful coincidences. – faustus Dec 10 '18 at 12:37
Similar to: Term for the tendency to relate events that occurred in proximity? – Arnon Weinberg Apr 04 '21 at 06:29

Perfect events in a random world?

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