We explain what deja vu is and the conclusion that science has reached about this term. Also, the types of deja vu that exist.
What is deja vu?
Have you ever felt that a scene or act that you are going through in your life have you already lived it? This strange sensation is called Déjà vu and there are various explanations and characteristics to describe this event.
The word Déja vu has its origin in the French language where its meaning is «Already seen«, And its main definition explains that it is an experience that we feel when we believe that we have witnessed or previously experienced a certain situation that is new. That is, the person Those who have déjá vu will encounter an intense feeling that a certain act that is experienced today has already been experienced at some point in their past.
However, in order to explain this strange sensation, the psychologist Edward Titchener stated that this occurs when the person perceives a certain view before the brain is able to finish building the perception consciously and totally of that particular circumstance.
When we go through this sensation of Déjà vu, we also experience feelings of despair and shock because the brain is not able to locate in space Y weather the feeling that supposedly has already been experienced. In addition, this feeling does not usually last more than a few minutes because it then fades, leaving the person who has just suffered it with a bewilderment about whether the experience was a kind of dream or, also, a premonition.
Both in ancient times and for those people who believe in superstitions, these sensations are considered paranormal and their analysis It will depend on the beliefs that each person possesses.
It is said that more than 60% of people have experienced this sensation more than once in their lives. Because it is practically impossible to recreate this sensation in a laboratory for scientists to analyze it, hypnosis has begun to be implemented in order to recreate Déjà vu.
What does science say about deja vu?
After several research, both psychological and neurological, has reached the conclusion that déjà vu is an abnormality produced by the brain. This means that it is an impression on an experience that is believed to be remembered.
This argument is based on the fact that each time a person experiences this sensation, the information the detail of that "memory" is usually quite uncertain; people are often not able to decipher where, when and in what way this event occurred. After a while, the person will not be able to describe what caused the déjà vu.
Types of Déjà vu
- Déjà vécu. This type of déjà vu is what people usually refer to. It is that feeling that we are witnessing it, saying or seeing it, we have already lived it before. Studies have shown that they tend to occur more frequently in young people between 15 and 25 years of age, because their minds are still subject to notice any type of change in their environment. What characterizes it in an essential way is that that experience that is believed to have been lived usually includes a large amount of details in common with the memory to which it refers.
- Stop feeling. Unlike déjà vècu, this process it is only a process mental. That is, it does not have any cognitive characteristics nor does it usually refer to memory of the person who goes through it. In addition, it could be said that it can be a feeling that brings satisfaction due to remembering something that has been forgotten in our mind for a long time.
- Déjà I visited. It can be translated as "something already visited", that is, this process refers to a knowledge that you have about something totally new for the person. That is to say, when a place or something new is known, there is no reason why it is possible to get to know it. Some explanations that are alluded to for this phenomenon are dreams, out-of-body travel and, in addition, reincarnation. As for a more skeptical analysis, it is said that it is likely that previous knowledge that is of great depth about a place, for example, can cause this feeling.