Enlightenment and individuation: syncretism,synchronicity and beyond

This paper opens with a personal introduction to the topic of syncretism within the context of a comparison of enlightenment associated with Eastern religious traditions and individuation as experienced through Jungian analysis. A brief exploration of the recent scholarly revival of interest in syncretism follows. Some close parallels with Jungian theory are highlighted, especially in the work of Timothy Light. Applications to the syncretic trends in Tang culture along the Silk Road(s) suggest deeper patterns of interconnectedness lie at the heart of these trends. A complex systems view highlights similarities between syncretic connections and non‐local aspects of synchronistic field events. The final section attempts to extend this approach to innovation in general terms through the recently articulated concept of the ‘adjacent possible’ from the writing of Stuart Kauffman. From this, the notion of a collective pre‐conscious dimension to the psyche is extrapolated. The unifying thread of acausal emergent forms provides a potential synthetic network for these phenomena.     

The chameleon effect,the temporal aspects of mimicry and their impact on service measurement

BackgroundIn an experiment conducted in a natural setting, we test the link between mimicry, the amount of time during which the mimicry behavior takes place, and its impact on service quality.MethodsCable TV clients (n = 120) were randomly assigned to six experimental conditions (2 mimicry conditions: verbal mimicry vs. no mimicry x 3 interaction time: 5 vs. 10 vs. 15 minutes). Perceived service quality served as the dependent measurement.ResultsA main effect of mimicry was found on service quality: a cable TV representative was perceived more favorably when he mimicked the customer. Importantly, it was shown that even small portions of mimicry are beneficial, meaning that practitioners do not have to mimic someone for a long time to achieve benefits.ConclusionThe paper shows new benefits for the mimicker: more positive judgments by the mimickee regarding the impact on several different levels of service quality.