My I Ching Experience via an App

I decided to access the I Ching oracle via an app, primarily because whilst I have a lot of respect for various psychic and divination exercises, I am highly sceptical of online renditions of those. I chose Deepware Changes, the highest-rated free app on the Google Play store. It mimicked the coin toss methodology; all I had to do was tap the screen to 'toss' the coins and the hexagrams appeared without me having to do any mathematical calculations. Winning!

I pondered a fairly serious question I had about a friendship I had recently broken off after a lot of consideration. A difficult choice, but one I felt was right for us both. This friendship had developed into one of pure convenience; it was just easier to ignore the issues at hand and feelings of hurt - but this didn't mean the friendship wasn't poisonous.

Using the app, I simulated a coin toss six times, as instructed. The result of each coin toss were developed into the hexagram lines, with clear images and text to describe to me what each symbol connoted. The resulting hexagrams which were generated were eerily accurate. I really hadn't expected this.

“Care for common interests. Any disagreement must be overcome. When there is a climate of mistrust, no common targets can be achieved. Everybody becomes a stranger for the others. Insecurity reigns. Coexistence is established. Every person occupies (their) place in society. However, (it) is not true feeling or love (that) unites people.”

Despite the clunky nomenclature - which is to be expected in an intricate language translation such as this - I felt this was a pretty accurate and detailed answer to my question.

Source: Giphy

I was genuinely shocked at how well the answer fit the question. A voice in my head kept whispering Oh my God, it actually works, over and over again. A second voice was mindful that these results have been roughly translated from Mandarin, which has a completely different alphabet and dialect to English. Could this have impacted on the accuracy of my results?

Assuming the theory of synchronicity, the accuracy of the results should be the same regardless of whether I used an app, physically tossed coins or had a reading with a professional.

The practice of I Ching is a victim of global flow; an ancient practice of fortune telling has effectively spilled over physical and cultural borders to the smartphone screen of an Australian media student in Wollongong. Without the internet, would I be sitting in my bedroom receiving a traditional I Chine reading? I doubt it. What does this mean and what are the implications of such a dynamic feat? Digital I Ching also holds the benefits of being globally accessible, fast, convenient and low-cost or free (have a go at this quick online I Ching reading).

“Many people’s experience is that computerised I Ching readings are just as valid and useful as those made using more traditional methods” (psychicscience.org)

Marshall McLuhan claimed, during the 1960’s, that the medium is the message; the actual content of the prediction is of less importance than the way it is communicated. This is particularly relevant in the case of I Ching; given that it is traditionally a face-to-face service, what is the significance of its presence in the global estate?

The original post, which this one is based on, can be found here.