Have you ever felt that you’ve experienced the present in the past?
You are not alone.
The feeling of the present having occurred in the recent or distant past is called déjà vu.
Research reflects approximately 97 percent of people experience déjà vu at least once, with more than 65 percent doing so regularly.
The word déjà vu rolls off the tongue and sounds exotic. Of course, it does! It’s French, which is the most romantic language in the world.
Remember how Gomez Adams becomes hopelessly romantic when his wife Morticia speaks French?
Déjà vu, the silky-tongue, ear-candy word, means ‘already seen.’ The intriguing word is somewhat mystical and a weird phenomenon.
Déjà vu can involve previous physical experiences and all the senses: taste, smell, sight, touch, and hearing.
Who knows when déjà vu became a human phenomenon?
It is commonly believed that everyone has experienced déjà vu at some time. If people experience it today, they probably did so even in the ancient past. There’s no explanation for the lack of mention of déjà vu until the late 1800s other than no formal word for the experience.
Undoubtedly, descriptions of this phenomenon have appeared in many writings for centuries.
Why do we have déjà vu experiences?
I don’t remember the last time I experienced déjà vu, but I have had that familiarity of the present occurring in the past more than a few times.
Studies also reveal that the chances of experiencing the condition decrease as one ages.
Maybe that’s why I don’t remember an episode of déjà vu in quite some time. According to some researchers, individuals between 15-25 are more likely to experience déjà vu than older people.
We know the sensation: you’re in a place or involved in an activity, and a twilight-zone familiarity overcomes you that you’ve done this before. The feeling doesn’t last long and is often soon forgotten.
Maybe the experience is short-lived because we know the chances of the activity having happened in the past are impossible.
Some call déjà vu a ‘false sense of familiarity.’ There are also those who think the feeling can result from lost or unremembered dreams. Various research studies reveal a list of medical, psychiatric, and other conditions associated with déjà vu.
The following is a brief historical account of déjà vu.
Emile Boirac, a French philosopher, first used the word, déjà vu in 1890. Historians believe St. Augustine was the first to refer to the concept in 400 AD when he stated, ‘false memoriae.’ F. L. Amaud, a neurologist, was the first to use déjà vu in a scientific context in 1896.
The individual cannot link the peculiar feeling or impression of familiarity to a memory.
The following is how some people describe déjà vu.
A temporary disruption in reality
A glitch in processing what’s real
A glitch in time
Déjà vu is not only the subject of researchers and the topic of writers but also the intrigue and lure of songs.
Below are just a few.
Déjà Vu by Olivia Rodrigo
Déjà vu by Dionne Warwick
One Mississippi by Kane Brown
Déjà vu (I’ve Been Here Before) by Tenna Marie
And the study of déjà vu continues.
I hope you are happy and well.