# What is De Ja Vu? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954 "2001-08-30T16:28:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/1 "2001-08-30T16:28:25Z")
De Ja Vu being the feeling you’ve experienced something before - not like going into a room you’ve already been in but not remembering, but going somewhere you KNOW you’ve never been to and feeling you’ve already done what you are doing as if in some alternate reality. Now I’d be surprised if this hasn’t been asked before, but a search on these pages and a more general search on the web has not even given me squat(maybe my spelling is wrong). It’s one of those questions I’ve always wanted to get to the bottom of. I keep getting De Ja Vu and whenever I do, it seems like I’d experienced De Ja Vu on that previous occassion as well (if you know what I mean). If anyone says “It’s when they change something”, I’ll hunt them down like the movie watching dogs they are. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/2 "2001-08-30T16:40:10Z")
_Deja_ is one word…might help with your search. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/3 "2001-08-30T16:54:36Z")
Deja vu is French for “already seen.” The opposite is Jamais vu (never seen) which is when you’re someplace familiar and you feel like you don’t recognize it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/4 "2001-08-30T16:56:09Z")
What, exactly, is your question about deja vu? It’s unsure why deja vu occurs, but personally, I have sensed various “degrees” of it from very strong (Yes! This HAS happened exactly like this before) to weaker forms of the same odd feeling. Though the moment passes so quickly, I can swear some instances HAVE happened in dreams. There is some recognition in the scientific community to “pre-cognitive dreaming”. Some believe it is mere common, daily events popping up in our dreams, but for me, these dreams are NOT routine things and COULD NOT have happened before and been forgotten by me, for example. I have had events from dreams come true word for word… perhaps the ultimate deja vu? And, there are times where parts of conversations seem like they’ve happened before - without a memorable dream to which I can point to exactly. So, perhaps those instances are simply dismissed as deja vu - a vague remnant of a pre-cognitive dream we label in a category called “deja vu”. …IMHO - Jinx, Jinx Whoa, dude! It’s like “deja vu”! ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/5 "2001-08-30T16:59:45Z")
[Déjà Vu.](http://www.skepdic.com/dejavu.html) ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/6 "2001-08-30T17:00:16Z")
[What is déjà vu?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_113.html) ---
**Author:** ![Servo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Servo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Servo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/7 "2001-08-30T17:06:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiendish Astronaut \* > **I keep getting De Ja Vu and whenever I do, it seems like I’d experienced De Ja Vu on that previous occassion as well (if you know what I mean).** I have this recursive type of deja vu. Sometimes it feels like it’s 3-4 levels deep! One of the theories I’ve read [sorry I don’t remember where] compared the brain to a tape recorder. Imagine your brain has a record head – for remembering memories, and a read head – for recalling them. Deja Vu happens when both head are working at the same, with the read head recalling the memories at the same time the record head is writing them. Although _why_ this happens they had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/8 "2001-08-30T17:08:44Z")
I’m sure I’ve seen this thread before… ---
**Author:** ![Servo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Servo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Servo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/9 "2001-08-30T17:09:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Perderabo \* > \*\*[What is déjà vu?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_113.html) \*\* Oh. I must have read it right here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/10 "2001-08-30T18:23:47Z")
_Deja vu_ is a strip club in Louisville, KY. They advertise “50 beautiful girls and 3 ugly ones.” ---
**Author:** ![ninja\_rydr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8491ac/32.png) [@ninja\_rydr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninja_rydr)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/11 "2001-08-30T21:01:12Z")
A deja vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something. ---
**Author:** ![mancunian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mancunian/32/12244_2.png) [@mancunian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mancunian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/12 "2001-08-30T21:56:57Z")
I have read, that it is like a time lapse between different parts of your brain. The information comes in and gets processed, then another part processes it again, making it the same instance, interpreted twice. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/13 "2001-08-31T00:11:25Z")
I don’t really believe in clairvoyance or most similar things, but I’ve had a strange experience a few times, where not only have I had deja vu, but I’ve been able to ‘remember’ correctly what happens for the next few seconds. It hasn’t happened for a few years, but I went into a bit of a daze before it happened, and felt decidedly strange. I wonder if anyone knows of any psychological explanation for this - I think I might have imagined after the fact that I was doing this, but even moments later, when I was ‘clearheaded’ again, I was convinced that what I imagined had happened was true (eg I remember telling people I was with that it had happened, and they remember me being quite sure). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/14 "2001-08-31T02:01:29Z")
Wasn’t Dejah Voo the girlfiend of John Carter, Warlord of Mars? "These are the members of our Resistance – Latrine, la Guerre, Chocolate Mousse, Deja Vu… “We have met before, no?” -from **Top Secret** “Vuja De --the feeling that nothing has happened before.” “I could have sworn I’ve felt a sense of _deja vu_ before.” “I could have sworn I’ve felt sense of _deja vu_ before.” OK, I’ll stop. My last statement on this is that a French friend confided to me that Americans pronounce it wrong. “Day Zha Voo” really means something like “You, Again?” he claims. ---
**Author:** ![Sysop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Sysop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sysop)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/15 "2001-08-31T04:12:57Z")
I’m not a very spiritual person, but I’m very open to other people’s beliefs and ideas. I sometimes wonder if Deja Vu is a rememberance of a previous life that you’ve led. Kind of like a broken record, you live your life over and over again (almost exactly the same) until you get it right, then you finally move on to “what’s out there”. Who knows? When I encounter an experience of “deja vu” (which only lasts about 15 seconds) and I’m with other people, I’ll be like, “Stop! Hold on, I have to do something DIFFERENT, or YOU have to do something DIFFERENT.” This is to “break the cycle” of the deja vu, which would end on its own, anyway. Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Stewart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dave\_Stewart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Stewart)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/16 "2001-08-31T07:14:33Z")
As a small aside, I have heard of something called presque vu (sp?) which means seeing something that was never actually there. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Toast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Burnt\_Toast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Toast)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/17 "2001-08-31T12:17:24Z")
I believe that at the end of our life we can choose what to do next and some of us just choose to live as ourselves again and when we relive it we get reminded of what we did in our previous life and remember it. During this life you change a bit though like dumping your girl friend instead of marrying her, so the deja vu tends to disappear when we get older because we made a decision we haven’t made before and so don’t remember it. That’s just me though… ---
**Author:** ![walor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@walor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/walor)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/18 "2001-08-31T15:12:23Z")
Deja Moo… the strange feeling that you’ve milked this cow before? ---
**Author:** ![Zaphod\_Beeblebrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/0ea827/32.png) [@Zaphod\_Beeblebrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zaphod_Beeblebrox)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-de-ja-vu/78954/19 "2001-08-31T15:22:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I have this recursive type of deja vu. Sometimes it feels like it’s 3-4 levels deep! > > One of the theories I’ve read [sorry I don’t remember where] compared the brain to a tape recorder. Imagine your brain has a record head – for remembering memories, and a read head – for recalling them. Deja Vu happens when both head are working at the same, with the read head recalling the memories at the same time the record head is writing them. If we accept this theory (it’s not like we have anything much better), then how does one account for those “3-4 levels deep” _deja vus_? I find these multi-level (if you will) _deja vus_ to be the most puzzling of them all. I’ve experienced this a few times myself. Could it be that the aforementioned tape recorder is a 4-track?