When a person finds himself in an unfamiliar place and knows with frightening certainty that a newspaper stand is waiting for him around the corner, this is not magic, but a manifestation of a phenomenon known as déjà vu. Another example is when a person is talking to a friend and suddenly realizes that this conversation has already happened. In general, deja vu is a strange feeling as if a person has already experienced this moment, although he knows that it definitely did not happen. This phenomenon raises many questions for scientists, so they have been carefully studying it for many years. We offer you five interesting facts about this phenomenon.
Contents
- 1 Deja vu is difficult to explain in words
- 2 There are many explanations for the phenomenon of déjà vu
- 3 Déjà vu has been known to people since ancient times
- 4 Déjà vu can be a sign of illness
- 5 Déjà vu comes in different forms
Déjà vu is difficult to explain in words
Almost every person on Earth has experienced the feeling of déjà vu, and when it occurs, many feel uneasy.
Déjà vu is often described as the feeling you get when you reread a long-forgotten book or watch a movie you saw years ago, but you don’t remember the details. In such moments, a person feels like they’ve experienced the same moment before, but can’t remember exactly when. Although there is a sense of recognition, it’s impossible to predict what will happen in the next second. The feeling is so strong that it seems as if there were many possible outcomes, but this particular moment was “destined.”
Sometimes the impression of déjà vu is so strong that it remains in the memory for a long time, although most people cannot remember specific details of what seemed familiar to them. At such moments, reality begins to seem a little blurry, as if everything that is happening is something ghostly or unreal.
There are many explanations for the phenomenon of deja vu
Scientists still do not know the exact causes of deja vu, but there are several interesting assumptions that explain this phenomenon.
One of them is related to splitting perception. According to this theory, déjà vu occurs when the brain processes the same moment twice, with a slight delay. The first processing occurs subconsciously and is not recorded, while the second occurs consciously. This creates the feeling that you have already seen or experienced this moment, although in reality it is simply double processing of the same event.
Another explanation is a memory encoding error. The brain can sometimes confuse current events with memories, and then what is happening seems to you “past.” Simply put, the brain mistakenly “records” the moment in long-term memory instead of short-term memory, which creates the feeling that you have already been in this situation before.
Some people associate déjà vu with dreams. Sometimes people feel like they experienced a moment in a dream, and when they encounter a similar situation in reality, déjà vu occurs. This explanation resonates with many, because dreams are often intertwined with our perception of reality.
Read also: Why do we dream and should we believe in them?
Déjà vu has been known to people since ancient times
Déjà vu has been known to people since ancient times, and then people also tried to explain this phenomenon.
In the Middle Ages, philosopher Aurelius Augustineproposed an interesting hypothesis: he believed that déjà vu was a kind of memory error, in which our brains created “false memories” of events that did not actually happen. He called this phenomenon falsae memoriae, which means “false memories” in Latin.
Augustine's idea was one of the first attempts to rationally explain déjà vu, long before modern science existed. Although there was no technology to study the brain in depth, his thoughts laid the groundwork for future research.
You might be interested in: Why medieval executioners didn't actually wear red masks
Déjà vu can be a sign of illness
Although the feeling of déjà vu is familiar to almost everyone, it can sometimes be associated with various neurological diseases.
In everyday life, déjà vu is rare and lasts only a few seconds. However, in people with neurological disorders such as temporal lobe epilepsy, this feeling can occur much more often and last longer.
This is caused by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain, which create a strong feeling of “already seen,” creating the illusion that what is happening now is a memory.
Interestingly, déjà vu is not associated with mental disorders such as schizophrenia or anxiety disorders, although scientists have previously tried to find such connections. However, in epilepsy, this phenomenon is much more common and can be a sign of a brain disorder, which makes it an important symptom in the diagnosis of epileptic conditions.
There are different types of déjà vu
For many, it will be a surprise to learn that déjà vu is not just a sensation, but a whole range of different experiences.
For example, déjà vécu is not only a feeling that a situation seems familiar, but also a full experience of the moment, including thoughts and emotions, as if you have already lived it before. This is a deeper feeling than regular déjà vu.
Another type is déjà visité— occurs when you find yourself in a new place for the first time, such as an unfamiliar city, but you are sure that you have been there before. And déjà endédu is the moment when you hear new information, but feel that you have known it before.
And finally, the most mysterious phenomenon is jamais vu, when familiar places or people suddenly begin to seem completely unfamiliar to you, as if you are seeing them for the first time. These varieties of déjà vu add versatility to the perception of this mysterious phenomenon. You can read about this eerie phenomenon in this article.
Déjà vu is just one of the many mysterious phenomena that our consciousness encounters. It makes us think about how our brain works and what is beyond our usual perception.
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Another interesting phenomenon that is of interest to scientists is liminal spaces. These strange, sometimes frightening places in photographs cause us an inexplicable feeling, as if we are seeing something we should not have seen. Why do their images make us uneasy? You will find the answer to this question in our material.