we understand this kind of synchrony when it occurs? In the Western intellectual tradition, we have a strong tendency to search and explain events in terms of individual agency and causation.
Social events are generally understood in terms of contributions of the individual and the situation itself. The degree to which the person or the situational constraints shape the nature of the event will vary greatly. However, spontaneous and prolonged entrainment among three or more people introduces an experience that is difficult to explain by these more traditional accounts. These experiences cannot be easily reduced the actions of a single person, so an account has to be found in some source that goes beyond the individual. The powerful sense of unity and belonging that emerges from this kind of experience almost demands a different kind of explanation than we generally consider. Indeed, such feelings emerging from the synchrony of behavior may provide some of the foundation for the cultural interpretation of a transcendental experience.
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