WHAT IS COINCIDENCE AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? 

Coincidences are what gives even the most cynical atheist enough hope in life to get by.

How do we explain coincidence?

Laurence Browne steps in.  He says that there are four ways to do that.  None of them are mutually exclusive. 

I    Random chance.  Chance could be calculated in the sense that you could work out how likely it is for something to take place.

II    Natural causes - for example we know that we can think of things for no apparent reason and what we think of can help us duck trouble at the right moment

III     Supernatural causes.  Browne puts paranormal under the supernatural umbrella.  Not all would do that.  Supernatural means God and miracles and things like that.  A magic like but not magical ability like telepathy would be paranormal rather than supernatural.

IV     Synchronicity is the last one.  It describes any coincidence that affects how you feel about life as a whole.  It is a coincidence that has almost sacred meaning.

The last one is the most important one of all.  Thus it shows that God and magic are not as important to us as we think! We just need to feel that in some important matter our luck can just change for the better and give our lives value.  We must not see this hope as an excuse for any complacency - we must do our best for there is no guarantee things will suddenly turn around.

And if supernatural cause is admitted it can simulate physical cause so II is effectively eliminated.  III is just a curse.