Coincidences are a pattern which numerous psychological and neuropsychological factors contribute to the frequency of. Lately, experts have observed the tendency for them to happen more often to some groups of people and less frequently to others.
The spontaneous connection between what at first seem like unrelated things is called apophenia. According to Dr. Bruce Greyson, author of the article "Meaningful Coincidences and Near-Death Experiences, " people who have a deeper interest in the spiritual or are more intuitive, have more of a tendency to notice meaningful coincidences among events a lot more often than others.
Greyson used the scale of 2 of his colleagues - Dr. Bernard Beitman and Stephanie Coleman, which categorizes the frequency of the coincidences, to find correlations between them and people who have had near-death experiences. Remarkably, his analysis proved that the frequency of coincidences increases enormously in those types of people.
He believes that when they live through something that threatens their very existence, people begin to notice a whole lot more meaningful coincidences in their lives. Individuals who have never been in such a situation see much fewer, average-level coincidences. The meaningful coincidences increase proportionally to the seriousness of the event.
Until now it was believed that there was a tendency for coincidences to lead to near death experiences. Some theorize that when certain events begin to coincide way too often, that it's a sign something bad will inevitably happen.
It turns out that it's the exact opposite however - spiritual experiences, such as barely getting out alive from a near-fatal outcome, lead to an increase in the frequency of coincidences in life. These sorts of events somehow unlock the sensitivity of these persons and allow them to more clearly notice life's coincidences. They are met with a desire to analyze and interpret them.
