Thread: Relation of De ja vu to dreaming

Okay, before we all head off into another magical mystery tour here...

Though I'm not sure anyone has fully figured out how deja vu occurs, lest me offer up a less mystical, and much more scientifically accepted, explanation (which I think -- but am not sure -- was started by Einstein, of all people):

Deja-vu is nothing more than a "brain hiccup." It happens when the wiring for your perception briefly gets crossed with the wiring for your short-term memory, and you find yourself "remembering" and event at the exact same time that it is happening. In other words, you're remembering the image before you had a chance to consciously view it. And of course, since the memory is vague and obviously not of something that happened before (aka dream-like), you decide -- perhaps strongly insist -- that you've "dreamed" it, even though you never remember having this dream before that moment. This all happens very quickly, but if you ever catch someone having a moment of deja-vu, you'll notice that they pause oddly for a second while their mind recovers from its hiccup.

And yes, Spyguy, people who often have deja-vu will start predicting what's going to happen in the next few seconds when the phenomenon occurs. Trouble is, their prediction is always just a moment too late, when it is said out loud. Do you really remember telling everyone what they were going to say before they said it, or do you remember predicting what was going to be said, and then being amazed when that happened? There is a big difference there.

So, before we start discussing creating reality, predetermined futures, and other fantastic, very fun things, it might be good to look at a more earthy explanations first. It sucks, I know, but sometimes the basic explanation is the correct one, and, even if it isn't (or isn't worth considering, since it's a lousy stepping-stone to cosmic conversation), it ought to be included.

Sorry.

I see what you mean and love that Beatles album. How come though the de ja vu acourence is caused by twisting wires, are there any other phenomena caused by twisting wire

Originally Posted by Billyg126

I see what you mean and love that Beatles album. How come though the de ja vu acourence is caused by twisting wires, are there any other phenomena caused by twisting wire

As far as I know, the "why" behind the crossed wires is as yet unknown. The brain is so incredibly complex that they're still having a time trying to decipher the "uncrossed" processes, much less oddities like deja-vu. I would bet that there are a few other phenomena caused by slight malfunctions in neural circuitry, particularly in the hallucinations and neurosis departments, but I personally can't name any (I learned about deja-vu years ago because I specifically looked into it, and not neural malfunctions in general).

That said, in a truly literal way, LD'ing itself could be a result of crossed wires. We're not, after all, naturally meant to have waking awareness in a dream, so aren't we ripping out and mixing and matching a few of our minds' wires when we force it to happen?

Originally Posted by Sageous

Okay, before we all head off into another magical mystery tour here...

Though I'm not sure anyone has fully figured out how deja vu occurs, lest me offer up a less mystical, and much more scientifically accepted, explanation (which I think -- but am not sure -- was started by Einstein, of all people):

Deja-vu is nothing more than a "brain hiccup." It happens when the wiring for your perception briefly gets crossed with the wiring for your short-term memory, and you find yourself "remembering" and event at the exact same time that it is happening. In other words, you're remembering the image before you had a chance to consciously view it. And of course, since the memory is vague and obviously not of something that happened before (aka dream-like), you decide -- perhaps strongly insist -- that you've "dreamed" it, even though you never remember having this dream before that moment. This all happens very quickly, but if you ever catch someone having a moment of deja-vu, you'll notice that they pause oddly for a second while their mind recovers from its hiccup.

And yes, Spyguy, people who often have deja-vu will start predicting what's going to happen in the next few seconds when the phenomenon occurs. Trouble is, their prediction is always just a moment too late, when it is said out loud. Do you really remember telling everyone what they were going to say before they said it, or do you remember predicting what was going to be said, and then being amazed when that happened? There is a big difference there.

So, before we start discussing creating reality, predetermined futures, and other fantastic, very fun things, it might be good to look at a more earthy explanations first. It sucks, I know, but sometimes the basic explanation is the correct one, and, even if it isn't (or isn't worth considering, since it's a lousy stepping-stone to cosmic conversation), it ought to be included.

Sorry.

It was truly like 'Hey, I've seen this before. His response will be ...' And after that, he said exactly that. But I do agree that it is best to start with earthly explanations. Most of my deja vu's weren't predicting in advance but while it happened, which fits with the scientific theories. I can only remember one situation in which I knew it BEFORE it was said, and in total it happened 3 times or so (can't remember the exact situations but I remember how shocked I was by it, so they may very well be normal deja vu's). But I'm not going to think up any theories for it, cuz there is no way to confirm it one way or another.