Deja vu
Read our collection of Deja vu stories.
Deja vu History and Research
The phenomenon of feeling sure that one has felt the same experience or an event has already occurred in their life is called déjà vu (or paramnesia). Although the fine details of the situation are usually unclear, a feeling of eeriness or weirdness tends to wash over the individual caught in the experience. Researchers believe that the experience is attributed to a dream, but people caught in the midst of deja vu see the experience as very real. The term was coined by Emile Boirac (1851-1917) in his book "the Future of Psychic Sciences".
70% of people report having at least one deja vu experience. There have also been documented accounts of the phenomenon found in past literature. Studies on déjà vu have proven to be difficult, although researchers have found ways to recreate experiences with hypnosis. Scientific research has found that deja vu is not of extrasensory nature, but a misfire of memory giving the impression that the experience is being recalled.
Ways to explain deja vu scientifically have proven to be inconclusive, but some theories involve fractured memories, one eye seeing the same situation fractionally more quickly than the other, or possible links with psychological disorders. It is also worth nothing that deja vu is common among psychiatric patients. Research has also concluded that some drugs when taken individually or in conjunction with other drugs can also increase the chances of dejavu.
Other Possible Deja vu Explanations
Likely, the actual cause of deja vu lies in scientific explanation and the complicated neurological memory system temporarily malfunctioning, but those highly in tune with the spiritual world tend to believe otherwise.
The strange thing about deja vu is the feeling that comes with it. Sources tend to focus more on the feeling than whether or not the present events occurred in the past. Often, human lives tend to be repetitive; this coupled with the inability to remember every detail about every series of events may cause confusion, but not the strange eeriness which accompanies deja vu. Many dejavu stories revolve around explaining why the present feeling of a past experience creates such an eerie sensation.
The less than concrete nature of studies lead people to believe that the feeling of deja vu can be linked to clairvoyance or recollection of past life memories. Speculation on the occurrence of the phenomenon puts it right between the spiritual and physical world. Deja vu has been associated with clairvoyance, reincarnation, and dreams. People believe that the experience is a physical manifestation of dreams, remembering a past life, or premonition.
Deja vu stories are so compelling because there is really no empirical scientific proof that the phenomenon even exists. It is merely a creepy feeling that an individual is reliving a past event, oftentimes when it is an impossibility that the individual has been there. Deja vu is likely a neurological inconsistency, but there could be more to the phenomenon than misfire.