The tendency to notice coincidences in one’s life, and to attribute meaning to those coincidences, is stronger in some people than in others. There are a number of neurophysiological and psychological factors that may contribute to this tendency.
He found that meaningful coincidences increased in people’s lives after a near-death experience (NDE).
“The major finding of this study was that, among NDErs, the incidence of meaningful coincidence before the NDE was slightly less than that among the general population; meaningful coincidences after the NDE were significantly more frequent,” Greyson wrote.
He concluded: “These data suggest that prior tendency to recognize coincidences and to analyze or interpret them do not lead to spiritual experiences such as NDEs. Rather, spiritual experiences such as NDEs, and the increased spirituality that typically follows, lead to increased experiences of meaningful coincidence and increased analysis and interpretation of these coincidences.”