Déjà vu is the name for a not-so-pleasant state in which we feel as if we were in the same situation before. Within a few seconds, we are convinced that all this has already happened, and sometimes we even feel the ability to predict what will happen in the next moment. Then, just as quickly as it came, the strange feeling disappears, and we return to our ordinary reality.
Although the actual cause of déjà vu has not yet been determined by science, more than 40 theories have tried to explain the syndrome. Listverse has compiled a hit parade of the most interesting and thought-provoking explanations.
10. A mixture of feelings and memories
There is a well-known psychological experiment showing that human memory depends on the context: a person remembers information better if placed in the environment where he learned it. Irritants in the environment can easily trigger flashbacks. A certain sight or smell can trigger from our subconscious memories of the time when we saw or heard the same thing. However, this theory does not explain why in some cases of déjà vu a person does not recognize any of these "clues."
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9. Double process
This theory suggests that in some cases, human memory begins to behave incorrectly, or includes a "second channel." When there is a perception of something, the brain initially puts information into short-term memory. If we continue to analyze information, memorize it, it will be transferred to long-term memory. The information from the short-term memory is later erased. According to the theory, the brain at the moment of déjà vu tries to encode new information into long-term memory instead of short-term memory, which creates the illusion of what has already been seen. The flaw in the theory is that it can't explain why the brain doesn't do this all the time.
8. The theory of a parallel universe
The phenomenon of déjà vu fits perfectly into the fantastic idea that we live in millions of parallel universes, containing millions of versions of ourselves and our own lives with a variety of different possibilities. Adepts of the theory argue that a disturbing sense of the past occurs at the moment of crossing with another universe, where another “you” simultaneously with you does it. The theory is certainly intriguing, but not supported by scientific evidence, so it is difficult to accept.
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7. Recognition memory
This is a form of memory based on the identification of a perceived object or event with one of the standards recorded in memory. It is evaluated in recognition and identification procedures. According to this theory, memory knows something, but cannot associate it exactly. The theory is supported by an experiment in which the participants were given a list with the names of celebrities and then shown their photographs. The people depicted in some of the images were not included in the list, but the participants in the experiment showed signs of recognition. That is, déja vu happens when we remember something, but the memory is not strong enough to remember it for sure.
6. The theory of the hologram
According to the theory, our memory is formed in the form of three-dimensional images. And one element of it can restore the entire structure of the memory. Therefore, one stimulus (taste, smell) can help to recreate the whole memory. That is, the moment of déja vu is just an attempt by the brain to restore the "hologram". Why doesn't recovery happen in the end? The fact is that the stimuli that cause the formation of a hologram are often hidden from our conscious perception. And, for example, we are experiencing déjà vu, holding in our hands a tin can, which reminded us of the metal of the handle of a bicycle, but the brain could not grasp this reminder.
5. Prophetic dreams - they are also the so-called precognitive dissonance
This is the state of an individual, which is characterized by a clash in his consciousness or subconsciousness of conflicting knowledge - premonitions, predictions - the future, beliefs about the future, which leads to the appearance of psychological discomfort. This theory has the right to exist if, for example, we are experiencing something that we previously dreamed of. For example, you dreamed of driving along a certain road, and then you are driving along this road in reality and deja vu arises.
4. Divided attention, or self-remembering
According to this theory, our subconscious mind recognizes an object for a number of signs, but our consciousness refuses to recognize it. In the course of the experiment, students were shown a series of photographs with certain locations, asking them to indicate acquaintances. Some of the pictures were with locations that the students had never been to. At the same time, the pictures were shown quickly enough so that the consciousness did not fix them - the views were noted only subconsciously. As a result, after the photo with unfamiliar locations, the students noted them as familiar - the subconscious played a joke. That is, the theory defines deja vu as a message of the subconscious.
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3. The amygdala (amygdala) - one of the most mysterious areas of the human brain, responsible for emotions, such as fear or anger
For example, if you are afraid of spiders, it is the amygdala that is responsible for your reaction when you see an insect. In some situations, this area can completely disorient the human brain. For example, cause panic at the sight of a fallen tree. In the case of déjà vu, the amygdala may be responsible for brain malfunction. Let's say we are in a situation in which we were before, but the situation is now different and, in response to this, the amygdala causes brain stress.
2. Reincarnation - there is such a theory
In fact, there are quite a few examples when the human brain behaved very strangely, throwing very detailed memories from a supposedly previous life to its owner. Believers in reincarnation believe that we are entering a new life cycle with a certain set of attitudes that reflect the state of consciousness. At the same time, memories created at one level of consciousness cannot be reproduced at another level, in a new cycle. Deja vu is just such a “failure in the matrix,” a signal from a past life.
1. The theory of "glitch"
This is perhaps the strangest and at the same time interesting theory. Albert Einstein once said that there is no such thing as time, it is a human creation in order to put things in order and structure life. According to the theory, déjà vu is a kind of failure that allows a person to "rest" from the established order of reality. If Einstein's assumption is correct, then we are simultaneously experiencing the past, present, and future. And déja vu is simply a moment at a higher level of consciousness where we experience more than one experience at a time. It is, of course, still impossible to prove all this.