For this question, I will assume everyone experiences deja vu in the same way I experience it: As certain events unfold over, say, a time span of about five to ten minutes (my deja vu never lasts for more than ten minutes), a person will get the distinct feeling that what has just happened (as in, within the past few seconds), has happened before. However, this does not allow for that person to predict what will happen next; at least in my case, it never has.
Anyway, on to the question. When I have deja vu, it is always around other people. I tell them that I am having deja vu. What is weird about this is when I remember the deja vu version of what’s happening, the part about me telling people that I’m having deja vu is cut out of the deja vu memory. I cannot recall a single instance where I have deja vu telling someone I’m having deja vu.
I hope this question makes sense. If not, I suppose you can ask for clarification. Sorry about not putting the accent marks on it. I’m very lazy.
Because the orginal, similar experience that caused the Deja Vu didn’t include you talking about Deja Vu. It wasn’t Deja Vu at that time. So, anything artificial you introduce into the sequence is not remembered.
You can also break the Deja Vu chain by doing something really crazy, like sitting down and putting your ankles behind your head and walking on your hands. You won’t ‘remember’ doing that part either. The Deja Vu chain might continue, but this helps to stop it sooner.
I frequently have nested deja vu experiences, wherein I’m sure I not only experienced something before, but also was sure that the previous experience was also a deja vu experience in and of itself. Kind of “whoa – not only have I experienced the same thing over and over again, but each time I went ‘whoa – not only have I experienced the same thing over and over again, but each time I…’”
Ok, This may get wordy. The theory I have about Deja Vu -
Everyone has a functioning brain (functionality differs vastly among humans)
Everyone has senses (never read a case where, all five were disabled)
These senses constantly are bombarded with sensations (hence the word) and are sent to the brain.
Now, this is where it gets tricky, your brain starts to process all this information and during the process it starts storing the information in “memory.” As the event you are participating unfolds your memory is actually being accessed in “real time” and you get the sensation of deja vu. Memory (from the past) equals Present (Current)
Believe it or not, I have heard attempts at explaining deja vu in much the same way. The version I heard/saw/read/whatever has it that occasionally the brain doesn’t quite store “in one location of the brain” all the fragments of sense input that it receives. Some are left “floating” or “disconnected.”
Once a similar experience happens, the new signals that are themselves being stored encounter those partially stored from before and that triggers the “proper storage” of the fragments, thus resolving the “lost” ones from the previous experience.
The question to answer in deciding if this explanation works, is “Do you ever have the same deja vu experience again?” If so, the explanation is faulty. If not, it’s as good as any other explanation.
frixxx, I always assumed that was how it happened. I’m pretty sure I read explanations following those lines. You’re brain feeds your memories as they happen instead of storing them.
i believe frixxxx is correct also, but i’m wondering what would cause this to happen?..is there a reason your brain is “messing up” such as diet, sleep, etc. Could you somehow make yourself more prone to deja vu, or prevent yourself from having it?
