Deja vu

[Wolfy]

What is deja vu? Where does it come from? I have been thinking some about deja vu but I can't really seem to find an answer to it. Could it be a dream about the future you had but not being aware of it but when it happens you feel that it has happened before... does anyone know what deja vu is or atleast have a clue to what? Please post it here, I'm curious.

[DarkWolf]

The word "deja vu" literally means "already seen" in French. Also in french is the term "Jamais vu" which describes an event filled with familiarity but you feel as though you are experiencing it for the first time.

The proper term for deja vu is paramnesia - a memory disorder where there is the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time.

It is believed that deja vu occurs when there is a "mistake" in memory. Typically as you process sensory input it is in the Short Term Memory (STM) and moves on to Long Term Memory (LTM) after deeper processing. Deja vu occurs where the brain accidentally processes information to LTM and thus is triggered by out to STM as a memory: making you feel great familiarity for an event even though it is your first experience of the event. However this is only one of many theories.

Specific brain disorders such as "temporal-lobe epilepsy". Sufferers of this form of epilepsy will experience a variant of deja vu prior, during or sometimes after the seizures of the epileptic attack. This may suggest deja vu may have some relation to auditory stimulation because the temporal lobe processes auditory information from the ears and relates it to Wernicke's area of the parietal lobe and the motor cortex of the frontal lobe. Possibly, the error occurs as auditory information is passed to the Wernicke's area which is important for understanding the sensory (auditory and visual) information associated with language. Still, it is a possibility and being investigating.

Some psychoanalysts would assume this is simply fantasy, while parapsychologists believe it is a sign of past-lives. Psychiatry mostly treats deja vu as a memory disorder, and this seems the more active theory.

Never is it described as "dream about the future", because in order to dream you must be lacking conciousness in some way (even while daydreaming) and this theory is scoffed at, even by parapsychology: the only division of scientific research that is willing to accept "visions of the future" as plausible.

Ultimately: if you have a deja vu and after the mild disorientation you feel fine: do not worry about it: it happens to 70% of the world's population, so it is perfectly normal.

[Klark]

*makes note of the fact that DarkWolf IS a Discovery Channel special* :D

[Darth Cluich]

*makes note of the fact that DarkWolf IS a Discovery Channel special* :D

I have the strange feeling that I've seen Klark post that before... ;)

[Wolffy13]

You know, I've been having a lot of deja vu too, but it's strange in the manner that it feels like I've done the exact same thing in the exact same place and not long ago, yet I know it's impossible, or I had either dreamed it recently. Either way, it is awefully odd. Who knows...

[DarkWolf]

*makes note of the fact that DarkWolf IS a Discovery Channel special* :D
Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment.

[Hellcat]

What I can't understand about Deja vu is that if its a memory disfuntion or whatever, why isn't every scenerio in your life regurgitated as deja vu? why does it only occur every once in a while? What triggers it?

[PureMoonlite]

Deja vu feels like a sensation that makes us think we've done it before and recognised that event, perhaps because we had done it (a repeat of smells, surrowndings, with the same people, ect) or because our physical bodies anticipated it happening. Other than that it's a mystery.

[DarkWolf]

What I can't understand about Deja vu is that if its a memory disfuntion or whatever, why isn't every scenerio in your life regurgitated as deja vu? why does it only occur every once in a while? What triggers it?
That's the thing: nobody knows exactly. And it works as a memory dysfunction because the scene goes into LTM FIRST, that is why when it is recalled out to STM you get deja vu. Normally, the scene is processed to STM first.

[Necro Mortis]

I dont like Deja Vu because when I get it it almost always feels like something bad is gonna happen. Everytime it happens I just tell everyone to stop because I dont want anything to go wrong! Thats probly why everyone thinks im weird

[Cephas]

(Caption on the screen: 'IT'S THE MIND -- A WEEKLY MAGAZINE OF THINGS PSYCHIATRIC' Cut to montage of photographs again with captions and music. Cut to a man sitting at usual desk. He is Mr Boniface.)

Boniface: Good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind', we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu. That strange feeling we sometimes get that we've lived through something before, that what is happening now has already happened. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange feeling we sometimes get that we've ... (looks puzzled fir a moment) Anyway, tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange...

(Cut to opening title sequence with montage of psychiatric photos and the two captions and music over. Cut back to Mr Boniface at desk, shaken. Caption on screen: 'IT'S THE MIND')

Boniface: Good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange feeling we someti... mes get ... that ... we've lived through something...

(Cut to opening titles again. Back then to Boniface, now very shaken. Caption on screen: 'IT'S THE MIND')

Boniface: Good ... good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of dddddddddddéjà vvvvvvvvuu, that extraordinary feeling... quite extraordinary...
(he tails off, goes quiet, the phone rings, he picks it up) No, fine thanks, fine. (he rings off, a man comes in on the right and hands him glass of water and leaves) Oh, thank you. That strange feeling we sometimes get that we've lived through something before.
(phone rings again; he picks it up) No, fine thank you. Fine. (he rings off a man comes in from right and hands him a glass of water; he jumps) ... Thank you. That strange feeling... (phone rings; he answers) No. Fine, thank you. Fine, (ring off; a man enters and gives him glass of water) thank you. (he screams with fear)
Look, something's happening to me. I - I - urn, I think I'd better go and see someone. Goodnight.

(Phone rings again. He leaps from desk and runs out of shot. He runs out of building into street and chases after passing milk float and leaps aboard.)

Milkman: Oi, haven't I seen you somewhere before?

Boniface: No, doctor, no. Something very funny's happening to me.

(Caption on the screen: 'IT'S THE MIND -- A WEEKLY MAGAZINE OF THINGS PSYCHIATRIC' Cut to montage of photographs again with captions and music. Cut to Boniface at desk. Boniface screams and runs out of shot. Cut to same piece of film as just previously, when he chases float, leaps on and the milkman says:)

Milkman: Oi, haven't I seen you somewhere before?

Boniface: No, doctor, no. Something very funny's happening to me.
Just thought it was relevant :D

[Darth Cluich]

That's one of my favorite Python sketches! :D You lose a great deal just reading it, though, as you don't get to see Palin's reactions to what's going on.

[DarkWolf]

Yes ok, jokes fun, blah blah.

There is a PM feature and Chat where you can talk Monty Python. Please keep to topic, thank you.

[Hellcat]

The most freakyish deja vu I've had was on one occassion when I thought "I know what's gonna happen next". The scary thing about it was that i was right. Annoyingly I can't remember what that instence of deja vu was. I'm guessing it was a mixture of deja vu and precognition- whatever it was i remember feeling freaked out by it.

[Metalhead13]

i remember once, that i was doing i thunk uhh well i was sitting down at the time and i for some unknown reason thought about deja vu and then i can remember thinking to myself what if this instant happened again, what if i had deja vu but not now......well what do you know it just so happens i seemed to experience the same position, the same thoughts again and then i thought, holy s*** ive done this before, i cant remember much of the scenery though..i was thinking at the time

[kaycee]

It is a memory disfunction. Somehow, the short term memory centers of the brain become primary, even just for a moment. This in turn, changes the perception of events from the general attention mind into the recalled mind for interpretation.
Consequently, there is a flickering impulse that perhaps all of this has been done before. In fact, it has not but the perceptive centers of the brain have juxtaposed just long enough to create a false perception of circumstances.

[Necro Mortis]

Thanks to all the explanations on this thread I think I finally understand. Thanks to everyone who took the time to post here, DW, kaycee ;)

[nightwolf]

That always happens to me too. Sometimes right after i wake up i can remember something i dreamed and it happens later that day/week. One time it was about 2 weeks later, i thout it was a dream until then. :confused:

[DarkWolf]

This is a philosophy forum, guys, not a livejournal. Experiences of Deja Vu may seem exciting to you, but this thread is about discussing it and sharing your opinions and knowledge - not experiences. Unless you're using experience as an example to provide a clear point, we don't need to know. I enforce this because most, to all, people either have or will have experience in deja vu - so it serves no more point than telling us what brand of drink you like.

So please, share thoughts, opinions or theories but not anecdotes.

[Hellcat]

This is a philosophy forum, guys, not a livejournal. Experiences of Deja Vu may seem exciting to you, but this thread is about discussing it and sharing your opinions and knowledge - not experiences. Unless you're using experience as an example to provide a clear point, we don't need to know. I enforce this because most, to all, people either have or will have experience in deja vu - so it serves no more point than telling us what brand of drink you like.

So please, share thoughts, opinions or theories but not anecdotes.

I prefer budweiser myself, though Stella Artois is good too... sorry DW I ouldn't help myself :D

What is the difference between de ja vu and an incident that triggers the rememberance of a dream you had last night? I'll try and rephrase that- Apparently every body dreams, some people remember the dream they had last night, some people don't. For me sometimes I remember my dreams and sometimes I don't, but sometimes I'll see something in my waking state and suddenly I will recall the dream that i had last night (or the night before) with such clarity despite the fact that earlier i would have sworn blind i never dreamt last night (or the night before). For example the other night I had a dream, but the following morning I was sure I hadn't dreamt because I couldn't remember dreaming. Later that day I was in the post office and I saw one of those Leonardo orniments, this one was a deer- suddenly I realised I had dreamt last night- I'd dreamt about a herd of deer and I could remember the entirity of the dream simply because the orniment in the post office had triggered something in my memory. When I have de ja vu, its a similar experience. It's like what I'm doing now is triggering a memory of something extremely similar, or the same that I've done, but i know I haven't done it in reality, yet i can recall it. Could there be a form of de ja vu that is actually something in your waking state triggering a memory of a dream you've had some days/weeks/months/years ago that at the time you didn't remember having?

[blueeyes]

Very Good Description and Analysis (http://serendip.brynmawr.ed u/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper2/Johnson2.html)

[Darth Cluich]

Very Good Description and Analysis (http://serendip.brynmawr.ed u/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper2/Johnson2.html)

I have a distinctly eerie feeling I've seen that site before...

[wolf_blood]

I have had deja vu meny times but I find that i get it more in the summer. Maby deja vu is more then jest a bran fart. maby more like a war-n-ing like the move final destination jest a thinking agen.




ps sorry for the spelling I

[Darth Cluich]

Maby deja vu is more then jest a bran fart.

I've had those bran farts before -- though they weren't always just farts... :eek:

[Nightmare GenoReaper]

I'm always expriencing Vuja De for some strange reason recently

Vuja De is the distinct feeling that NONE OF THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE. Is that normal? Based upon Deism and Buddism and Hindism and such other religions that belive in reincarnation, i think it's an abnormality, what do you think?

[Hellcat]

I'm always expriencing Vuja De for some strange reason recently

Vuja De is the distinct feeling that NONE OF THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE. Is that normal? Based upon Deism and Buddism and Hindism and such other religions that belive in reincarnation, i think it's an abnormality, what do you think?

Lol that reminded me of my friends younger brother who refered to deja vu as vada ju- sounded like something out of starwars...

Anyway.. no you are not abnormal, its a strange phemomena that has affected many people. Like deja vu scientists have yet to come up with any plausible causes for such a strange event. However there is one theory that seems to be quite popular, and drastically disturbing. The theory, if brought to light, would cause a public outcry, as suchj a theory would imply that some religions are not what many people would like to believe. The theory... if you really want to know... is... don't tell anyone I told you okay?...The theory is...



REINCARNATION DOESN'T EXIST :eek:

[DarkWolf]

Just to play devil's advocate: can you provide proof of that claim, Hellcat?

Although Nightmare you should note that Deja Vu is not about whether something has happened before in past lives or whatever, it is where you have a fault of memory causing you to think you've lived the moment before and is always accompanied by a strange sense of familiarity. Whether you actually have lived that moment or not, is technically irrelevant.

[LV426]

There are some that claim that Deja Vu isn't a sign of reincarnation but a sign of precognition. There are many cases of people having the sense that they have done something before but perhaps they have not done it but seen themselves doing it. For an instance I shall use a moment from a movie.

Stir of Echoes. Kevin Bacon wakes up and puts his shoe on, he then searches for his others shoe. He goes through a small series of events that seem like nothing until hid neighbor is there and he goes to the neighbors house and find his kid who then shoots himself. Then it flashes back to Kevin Bacon just waking up again. He sees the things that he is doing as a sort of deja vu and runs to prevent the shooting.

This could be seen as a type of deja vu. It is not a past life but a precognitory event that is somehow flashed to him in a split second.

I have a personal instance of my own. I was visiting my grandparents and went to get my suitcase out of my dad's car to put it in my sisters car. I was going home with her. When I opened the lid of the trunk I saw myself doing this same thing, putting the keys in my pocket and leaving. I then flashed forward in that same vision and saw myself taking his keys with me and then the moment left. I put my suitcase in the other car and went inside.

Later that night after we got to my sister's house I reached in my pocket and found my dad's keys. I had forgotten to give them back to him, even after my vision warned me.

It could have been deja vu or it could have been precognition. Maybe both.

[Xzengrim]

Come on now, people. We all know that deja vu occurs when a line of code in the Matrix is changed. It is also usually what causes black cats to cross the road.

[blueeyes]

But how does that explain the chickens?

[Nightmare GenoReaper]

Just to play devil's advocate: can you provide proof of that claim, Hellcat?

Although Nightmare you should note that Deja Vu is not about whether something has happened before in past lives or whatever, it is where you have a fault of memory causing you to think you've lived the moment before and is always accompanied by a strange sense of familiarity. Whether you actually have lived that moment or not, is technically irrelevant.


Yes that's the thing, some people can remember a certain place which they haven't been to at all. That is they have a memory of it, but it is an inherited memory, i'm just saying if you believe in reincarnation you can say that's what explains these strange occurances of memory. But thank you for providing the defintion, i didn't know the scientific term of Deju Vu (but based upon my religion that's why Vuja De is abnormal to me, that's all)

[Hellcat]

Yes that's the thing, some people can remember a certain place which they haven't been to at all. That is they have a memory of it, but it is an inherited memory, i'm just saying if you believe in reincarnation you can say that's what explains these strange occurances of memory. But thank you for providing the defintion, i didn't know the scientific term of Deju Vu (but based upon my religion that's why Vuja De is abnormal to me, that's all)

Actually inherited memory is known better as racial memory- information passed down from previous generations to the present generation. It has nothing to do with reincarnation, but the passing of information from one human to its child. I don't know how it works. I first read about it in a Jean Auel novel (thanks for putting me onto her books LH- fantastic stuff) and I wasn't sure about the viability of such a thing. I was discussing it with a friend of mine and he confirmed that (scientifically) such a thing is plausible- something to do with memory being passed down from mother to daughter or father to son via DNA coding. Which reminds me- I wanted to find some info on the subject.

[LV426]

This is a really good resource for genetic memory research.

http://www.questinstitute.c o.uk/dynamic/resources/memory.pdf

[SqueakyOnion]

For me at least, it always seems that during a deja vu event, there is one, MAYBE two things that are the focus...maybe a facial expression and a feeling/mood. That means that EVERYTHING else is a variable. I could have seen my friend Bob make a face. Later that week I have a dream and I am sad and he makes the face and I feel happy. A month later Bob makes that same face again, and I'm sad. So it feels just like the dream. You dream EVERY NIGHT (unless you sleep less than 2 hours). Therefore, you dream about emotions/moods connected with images every night. Odds are, that at SOMETIME, one of those things might happen. Since the deja vu is connected with only 2 things, the rest doesn't matter...just as long as Bob is making his face and you're sad. It's all a game of odds. Kind of like, odds are 10,000,000 to 1 that you will get struck by lighting. But guess what? People get struck by lighting. People win the lottery. People get in car accidents. People get robbed. People die in plane crashed. If you have 1,000,000 things that have a million to 1 chance of happening, statistically one of them is going to happen. Of course, 5 of them could happen, or 500, or 500,000. This is, what appears to me anyway, to be what deja vu is, only deja vu generally follows predictable results, statistically. I suggest to everyone here to grasp as full a concept of statistics...its incredibly fascinating.