# Déjà vu delayed

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deja-vu-delayed/1279>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 14, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deja-vu-delayed/1279 "2000-04-14T15:29:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deja-vu-delayed/1279/1 "2000-04-14T15:29:00Z")

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I sometimes have [déjà vu](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_113.html) like experiences but with me it seems to take a minute or so before the familiarity kicks in. Is that weird?

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**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deja-vu-delayed/1279/2 "2000-04-15T05:02:00Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Is that weird?

Probably… that’s the way it often happens with me… and I know I’m wierd…

Personally, my theory on deja vu centers around the way the brain does pattern matching. Pattern matching is an important mechanism for learning in the brain. Nearly everything we learn, we do so by association. I think deja vu happens when our brains erroneously pattern match on a memory that is somewhat similar to a current event. If we don’t immediately recall the details of the match situation, the mechanism fills in with the details of the current situation and the two events seem the same… deja vu… Since this mechanism would be a fundamental part of the overall learning mechanism, that might explain why the frequency of deja vu events start to fade as one gets older.

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**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deja-vu-delayed/1279/3 "2000-04-15T05:03:00Z")

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ps

Maybe we should call it delay ja vu…

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**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deja-vu-delayed/1279/4 "2000-04-15T07:11:00Z")

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Cecil’s “cognitive burp” seems like the perfect description to me.

And what a great sig line.

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Excuse me, I’m having a cognitive burp!