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What is Deja Vu and why does it happen?
Hi, sorry I didn't know which category this belongs in, and it is extremely long.
I'm 18/f and I've had many experiences with deja vu. I'm not a "believer"; I don't believe in any religion, anything spiritual/mystical, or anything along those lines.
I always believed deja vu was something that could be explained by science and psychology, but I'm starting to think differently. This is because of an experience I had with deja vu.
Normally, I get the feeling that I've already seen/done something that is happening, but I know iT hasn't happened. You know, just that normal, creepy 'familiarity' feeling that comes with deja vu.
Normally, when I have deja vu, if I tries to think back and remember "Have I done this before?" or "Why is this familiar?", there is nothing, its all just completely new but strangely familiar.
But the last time I had deja vu, it was different. It was like I COULD remember seeing that exact situation before, but different, like I was unconscious or asleep at the time of experiencing it. It felt almost exactly the same as attempting to remember a hazy dream you had last night. It wasn't a real memory, it felt weird, like I hadn't physically done this before, yet I COULD remember seeing it.
I was shocked. I couldn't believe I remembered seeing this deja vu, and I kinda got mad at myself for not remembering it before I experienced it, like "How could I not remember seeing this happen?"
The point of this is that I'm asking you for some kind of explanation or similar experience.
What is your point of view on this and on deja vu? Can you provide any explanation, whether it be logical or spiritual? Have you ever had a weird experience with deja vu?
Don't worry about offending me, just give me your opinion, even if it is calling me crazy :P
Thanks.
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Oooh! I love this question.
But no - there is nothing spiritual or supernatural about déjà vu. Your first instinct was correct, it is all about cognitive science, the way the brain recognizes and processes stimulus.
Our brains are fabulous sense-making machines, but in their speedy, intense desire to 'make sense' of the world as quickly as possible (so, ya know, we don't get eaten by a mountain lion) they often get things wrong.
Which isn't to say it's entirely known what the experience of déjà vu is inside the brain. Not all scientists will necessarily agree. The most accepted theory in psychology says that déjà vu is caused by a person having a brief experience of an object or situation (because it's well known that the brain register impressions and images of things long before the person is able to to aware of them) and then before the actual, aware perception is completed, a small part of it is associated with a memory. That gives the individual a false sense of familiarity without the aware mind actually being able to remember what source memory is actually triggering the feeling.
In a sense, this is very similar to trying to remember a hazy dream - specific elements tend to stand out clearly in our memory: we are very good at remembering objects, sounds and smells. While the rest of the experience - things like direction, order of events, relative arrangement of objects, which we are not as good at remembering - remain hazy.
This explains why something might feel familiar, but you can't actually' it, or not know when you experienced it before (or, have it be actually impossible that you had experienced it before).
So I don't think you are crazy at all. Your brain just executed a particularly smooth slight of hand on you.
Anyways, here's a fun article with a slightly different explanation offered: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
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opinion:For me, deja vu is when i can remember exactly when and where i dreamt this happening. Its ussally boring stuff like putting on a certain pair of socks and looking at a specific tree at the same time >too bad its not lottery numbers<
But yeah, dont worry about it so much~ its one of the many beautiful mysteries in life :)
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Hi I've had the exact same thing happen to me in a classroom once in school like 2 yrs ago. It hit me funny one day like absolutely everything about that moment I've seen before but thinking back I knew I haven't déjà vu can just work that way we talked about déjà vu in my astronomy class last yr I love the subject. I don't remember everything that was said about it cus it's kind of complicated it's believed to have something to do with multiple universes and how there's another us living in another demension and when we experience déjà vu we jump time or something somehow I'm sorry I can't explain it cus I forgot a little but she explained it beautifully and it was freaky
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