How often do you get Deja Vu?

[Constantlyreforming]

I've talked to some Christians who fear admitting that they have it from time to time, as though it is something demonic or sinful. Others enjoy when they have it, some have never had it.

What are your thoughts on it? When have you had it? How often? Yearly? Never? If you read this thread, please give a brief explanation of your thoughts on the subject. It'd be greatly appreciated. I will give my thoughts on it later.

---------- Post added at 02:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------

By the way, there are quite a few ideas out there as to how Deja vu occurs and what causes it. Feel free to have the discussion about that as well.

 

[InSlaveryToChrist]

I voted "several times a year." I won't go to details, but I pretty much agree with Wikipedia's explanation:

"Deja Vu is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the prior encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined."

"The most likely explanation of déjà vu is not that it is an act of "precognition" or "prophecy", but rather that it is an anomaly of memory, giving the false impression that an experience is "being recalled."

 

[Jack K]

Can't say I've ever experienced it, at least not that I took note and labelled it as such.

I suppose if it's simply considered a memory anomaly that gives a false impression, that's no big deal. Start to think of it as something more than that and you run into theological problems.

 

[AThornquist]

Freaky! I could have swore I just read a thread about this...

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Freaky! I could have swore I just read a thread about this...

somehow, I knew that you would be the one to post something along those lines...

 

[Unoriginalname]

I get it at least once a month. I have a running theory that I am actually about to die and I am just seeing my life flash before my eyes.

 

[BobVigneault]

I'm pretty sure that Deja-vu is a glitch in the Matrix caused by inserting something into the program.

 

[Somerset]

I've experienced it two or three times in total and I'm 55.

 

[AThornquist]

Freaky! I could have swore I just read a thread about this...

somehow, I knew that you would be the one to post something along those lines...

There's always one in the crowd. Or several. Honestly, I get deja vu about maybe once a year and I tend to think that I was simply mistaken about what I remember. I don't read anything spiritual into it. I have a fairly good memory about most things and, when I think I have "already seen" something, I think about when and how that could be possible, thereby either confirming that it corresponds to a past experience or expectation, or proving that I was simply mistaken. For example, one time I was going through the drive-through and experienced deja vu. I could have swore I had seen the exact scenario sometime prior to my being there. However, I logically considered what could have contributed to this and, seeing no logical connection with my circumstances, concluded that I was simply mistaken. I figure that my level-headed consideration of events trumps some spontaneous inclination to think that I remember a circumstance.

 

[Rufus]

Several times a year and when I do I publicly announce it (therefore I have no problem with it).

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Of you who have had it, or not, who has experienced Jamais Vu?

This is where you suddenly have no idea where you are and what surroundings you are experiencing.

i.e.
You are laying there with your wife, and suddenly you have no clue who you are talking to, where you are at, and what the person is saying.

 

[Philip]

Generally I have it a couple of times a year. Usually it involves people and places that I know well, so I figure it's just that I know these folks well enough that my subconscious can construct something that they would actually say or do or a situation that would actually happen (usually I remember dreaming it at one point). I certainly don't read anything spiritual into it.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Very interesting responses. keep them coming. Ive been doing a study on the phenomenon, and have my own thoughts I'll share on it in a bit.

 

[Rich Koster]

Many times, I have been driving down the road and have to think about where I am. I will be cruising along, and I can't remember where I am, until I observe my surroundings for a while. It's not scary. It's merely an attention span drop out (that I often have). Let the Jim Ignatowski jokes begin .


I also have days that start out similar to the movie "Ground Hog's Day". The initial wake-up routine can become so monotonous, that it seems redundant. However, that's another topic.

 

[John Bunyan]

Several times a month, normally in places or situations new or uncommon to me - for example: during a new class, with a new teacher, after I have just learned a new subject.

 

[Andres]

I rarely have deja vu any more, but I remember having it more often when I was a kid. Not sure why that is.

---------- Post added at 04:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:40 PM ----------

Many times, I have been driving down the road and have to think about where I am. I will be cruising along, and I can't remember where I am, until I observe my surroundings for a while. It's not scary. It's merely an attention span drop out (that I often have).

Now this I have more often, like closer to once every couple of months. Actually mine isn't so much that I don't know where I am, but rather that I've gone somwhere completely different than I intended. For example, I leave my house intending to go to the store. The store is SE of my house and I normally make a right at the end of my street to get there. In these situations, I make a left at the end of my street and I start driving to some other destination like church or work, except I had no intention to head to these places.
Like Rich said, I always chalk it up to me just not paying attention to where I'm going because I've got my mind on other things - scatterbrained!

 

[Zach]

Every once in awhile it happens. Probably once every couple of months. I generally do not read much into it.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Interestingly enough, deja vu is considered by some to be the condition of the gifted. Many amazing artists, mathematicians, etc were stricken with constant deja vu throughout their lives.




more to follow.

 

[InSlaveryToChrist]

Of you who have had it, or not, who has experienced Jamais Vu?

This is where you suddenly have no idea where you are and what surroundings you are experiencing.

i.e.
You are laying there with your wife, and suddenly you have no clue who you are talking to, where you are at, and what the person is saying.

That actually happens very often to me, usually when I'm having a long conversation with someone. I've noted that tiredness is often involved.

 

[Wayne]

[video=youtube;G2eUopy9sd8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2eUopy9sd8[/video]

 

[fishingpipe]

I get it several times a year, and just a couple of weeks ago the feeling was so overwhelming I had to stop my wife and think through when I had such an experience. Really, it was very overwhelming.

What gets me is when I have a case of Veja Du, which is when you get a powerful feeling that you are experiencing something that you have never, ever experienced before.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Of you who have had it, or not, who has experienced Jamais Vu?

This is where you suddenly have no idea where you are and what surroundings you are experiencing.

i.e.
You are laying there with your wife, and suddenly you have no clue who you are talking to, where you are at, and what the person is saying.

That actually happens very often to me, usually when I'm having a long conversation with someone. I've noted that tiredness is often involved.

Interesting. Many believe this can be mimicked by staring at a word for 60 seconds. Keep focusing on the word DOOR. If you stare at it long enough, the word will lose it's meaning. THere have been studies done with students in college on this scenario. If my memory serves me right, 60% of the students began to really believe that the professor had tricked them into THINKING that the word he gave them, "DOOR" was spelled wrong.

 

[Kim G]

Interesting. Many believe this can be mimicked by staring at a word for 60 seconds. Keep focusing on the word DOOR. If you stare at it long enough, the word will lose it's meaning.

I've noticed this happen to me a lot. I'm a speed reader and reading and spelling are usually a breeze for me. But if I stop and focus on a word for too long, I can't understand the word anymore, and I certainly couldn't tell you the correct spelling. I always wondered why that was.

Also, I have noticed that for me, smells often trigger a sense of Deja Vu.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Interesting. Many believe this can be mimicked by staring at a word for 60 seconds. Keep focusing on the word DOOR. If you stare at it long enough, the word will lose it's meaning.

I've noticed this happen to me a lot. I'm a speed reader and reading and spelling are usually a breeze for me. But if I stop and focus on a word for too long, I can't understand the word anymore, and I certainly couldn't tell you the correct spelling. I always wondered why that was.

Also, I have noticed that for me, smells often trigger a sense of Deja Vu.

I read that as "a scents of deja vu"....




Interestingly, regarding smells,

I will be in a certain situation where it is cloudy out and misty, and I will smell a strange smell....to the point where it is overwhelming....
whoever I am with, I ask them if they smell it, and they NEVER do.

I am convinced that people are able to have deja vu situations with smells that are not really there....basically, your brain playing a trick on you, recognizing a past smell that is not there, but is associated with the deja vu situation....

does that make scents?

 

[MarieP]

Quote Originally Posted by AThornquist View Post
Freaky! I could have swore I just read a thread about this...
somehow, I knew that you would be the one to post something along those lines...

And he beat me to it too! I think he's done that before, actually...

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Now, the reason I brought this up is two-fold. One, the concept of déjà vu is an interesting one that is not really discussed much. Try to remember what your last déjà vu was in reference to, and most likely you will not be able to remember it. I find the concept of déjà vu interesting, as well as important to know what it is. There are several brain “burps” as I like to call them that are rather intriguing and confusing that happen to people.

(1) Déjà vu – the experience that you have experienced the exact situation before…but you cannot put a finger on the situation where and when it happened.
(2) Jamais Vu – The experience where you suddenly do not recognize what you are looking at or experiencing for what it is. Very similar feeling to staring at a word like “door” and the word suddenly doesn’t appear to be the word you supposed you were initially looking at…it loses its actual meeting.
(3) Auras – These are debatable, surely, but do happen with people. Auras give one the feeling that they are experiencing something that is not really there….like a zigzag line in their line of sight, or a ringing in the ear that isn’t really there…or a certain smell.

ONE of the reasons I bring all these up, is because in my research regarding déjà vu, I come across (fairly often) the thought that people in history, such as Moses, Paul, Muhammad, etc… experienced auras as part of epileptic seizures, and this is one way that science attempts to explain away their supposed visions and writings as being figments of their imagination.

Now obviously, we have a problem with Muhammad being pooled in with Moses and Paul…
But this is something that we as leaders of the church need to be prepared to deal with as it may be something that non-believers will bring to the table, ready to confuse those in the church and lead them astray….

Any thoughts are welcome on this…

 

[MarieP]

Interesting. Many believe this can be mimicked by staring at a word for 60 seconds. Keep focusing on the word DOOR. If you stare at it long enough, the word will lose it's meaning. THere have been studies done with students in college on this scenario. If my memory serves me right, 60% of the students began to really believe that the professor had tricked them into THINKING that the word he gave them, "DOOR" was spelled wrong.

Sounds like something Keith Barry would do!

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Interesting. Many believe this can be mimicked by staring at a word for 60 seconds. Keep focusing on the word DOOR. If you stare at it long enough, the word will lose it's meaning. THere have been studies done with students in college on this scenario. If my memory serves me right, 60% of the students began to really believe that the professor had tricked them into THINKING that the word he gave them, "DOOR" was spelled wrong.

Sounds like something Keith Barry would do!

Try it.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

Im not saying we need to know the in's and out's of it, but that we should be ready and prepared to give a defense of our faith for whatever may come our way.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

I am less of a Peon, (sincere, I mean that).



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