Frequency of deja-vu? (assist me in writing a paper please)

[HornedFrog Purple]

I am in the process of writing a paper for a class I will end up hopefully taking in the summer, so I am getting a head start. I am hoping to get a decent sample size, but i dont know how many people will answer here. The paper is dealing with ESP.

The vote tabs are the frequency of times you have had a deja-vu experience.

If you do vote, please if you would answer the followup questions if applicable:

In the last five years, has your deja-vu frequency increased or decreased?

What is the most vivid deja-va experience that you recall? (Do not need specifics if you dont feel like it, something like "Place recognition, family event, etc")

[ACStrider]

It's been about the same, but it's a regular occurance for me. It actually occurs so often that I couldn't give you a good example. Maybe I'm just an atypical person or something. I will say this, many of my deja-vu experiences are associated with my knee. I've had many injuries =( so when it shifts or something like that I get a mental flashback of sorts. Not fun. Anyway, I hope this helps.

[Vince]

I don't get Deja Vu too often...but when I do, I usually get it a few times in a row. I put down once every six months, because I go long periods of time between instances. Usually I'll be driving somewhere, or walking into some building...motion definitely seems to be a pre-requisite to my deja-vu experiences. I can't recall any specific deja-vu experiences...but I know that some are more powerful than others.

Hope that helped

[Chief Rum]

I get it fairly often, HFP (I put down every two weeks).

Like ACStrider, I don't know that I could give you a concrete example, because it happens often enough that I generally just note the oddity at the time of its occurrence, maybe spend one second trying to figure out why it's familiar (with 100% negative results so far, to my memory, BTW), and then move on.

I don't believe the occurrences have increased or decreased for me the past few years. Hack, it feels like a semi-regular and consistent occurrence for me going back to at least high school.

Good luck with the paper, and if it happens agains oon, I'll see if I can relate what happened.

Chief Rum

[sterlingice]

>In the last five years, has your deja-vu frequency increased or decreased?
I think it's decreased over the past few years. I don't remember it as much as when I was in high school, for instance.

However, I agree wholeheartedly with Vince, when it occurs, it happens in blocks. First it will happen and you'll think "cool- haven't had deja vu in a while" but then it happens a couple more times in the next couple of weeks with either an almost identical situation.

The second thing that can happen is that you start another "set" of deja vu. Ok, I know that's confusing but I'll see if I can clear this up some. Basically, the first time, I'll have deja vu about driving and changing the radio station to a certain song and I'll have that one a couple of times over the next few weeks. But also, I may then start a second "set" of deja vu where a couple of times in the same couple of weeks I walk to the kitchen, forget what I'm looking for, open the fridge, and then remember I want bread on top of the fridge. So then I'll have two or three of these sets running for a month and then it will just go away again and it will be another couple of months before I have deja vu again.

hth, SI

[HornedFrog Purple]

Thanks for the input so far, its perfect.

The focus of my paper will be the consistancy of REM sleep and how it relates to deja-vu/ESP experiences. For instance with my own job I am up for many hours at a time and then sleep like a baby. Most people are on a set schedule. This poll is just to get a feel of common everyday people like you and I's general experiences.

Vince and SI mentioned "spurts" of deja-vu, which happens to me also. Usually its a sound or a sign while driving or walking somewhere you dont believe you have been before. Others are events though minor that you think "Didnt I do this before?"

I didnt answer the poll myself obviously, but my answer is about once a month. The thing is I never really remember them say a day afterwards, I think about it for a couple of minutes and then forget about it. Its very rare that someone remembers specific deja-vu experiences for a length of time which is why I asked the question if anyone remembers the most vivid one. While I have been researching, there is a line of thinking that there is a "grey-area" between deja-vu and a full blown ESP experience, in other words a "Didnt I do this before?" that you remember a year later or longer for whatever reason.

Anyways, thanks a lot everyone for voting and commenting. I didnt know how this would go over, so carry on.

[klayman]

for me it's happening less frequently as i get older.

my most vivid experience is hard to explain...but my mother was doing dishes in the kitchen, i was sitting at the table, and the sun was shinning through the glass window...the exact image of that moment was etched in my memory, although the precise images (dust in the sunlight, light reflected around the room, etc) would have been impossible to ever recreate.

Most of my experiences also deal with conversations that i'm sure had previously happened, but of course did not, which is a very eire feeling. Especially when you know what the other person is going to say. I just wish any deja-vu experiences would deal with tests and exams in school...that would help a lot more i think.

[sterlingice]

Well, I have an odd sleep schedule (hence being up right now) but I don't get nearly enough sleep. I hardly had deja vu at all last semester but that can probably be attributed to the fact that other than weekends, I rarely got more than 4 hours of sleep a night, sometimes less.

>Its very rare that someone remembers specific deja-vu experiences for a length of time which is why I asked the question if anyone remembers the most vivid one.
See- maybe I'm a tad odd in this respect (I haven't heard of anyone else having this) but when I have deja vu, I typically have the same deja vu happen a couple of times: i.e. going back to the fridge example, I will have the feeling of deja vu and then a day or so later, I'll have that exact same deja vu- that is what I mean by sets. So, on the second day, I'll have deja vu of deja vu if that makes any sense (i.e. I will have deja vu by remembering I had deja vu while doing this the day before).

Anyways, I'm heading off to sleep here. I'm tired of half studying.

SI

[IMetTrentGreen]

i have a weird feeling like i've seen this thread before

[ACStrider]

Very interesting theory. If it means anything, I'm an insomniac, so if there's anything to what you propose, it would be consistant with my personal history.

[Bee]

I think if anything the frequency has decreased.

The most vivid one I remember was meeting someone for the first time (a few years ago). The whole conversation felt like a repeat. I knew what she was going to say before she said it. Kind of freaked me out a little. It was probably a 3 minute conversation or something like that. Any other time I've had deja-vu, it was always a place looked familiar or something similar but it was always kind of an instant flash (not a long drawn out event that I remembered like it had already happened). Still kind of freaks me out when I think about it. Maybe I'm psychic? (note to self: buy lottery tickets)

[vex]

I can't ever recall having deja-vu. I've been with people who have, but not me.

[albionmoonlight]

Decreased.

Place Recognition.

[cuervo72]

I think mine has decreased as well, though I've had a couple recently. I think the last couple have been in work, where I'll have to do something that I feel I've done before...but it's not the actual work all of the time, but the surrounding circumstances, like what else I've been doing (in other windows :-) ) etc.

My sleeping patterns have been pretty erratic thanks to my kids - 9mo and 3 years. But when they let me I have no problems sleeping.

[Easy Mac]

I thought deja-vu was just the act of 1 portion of your brain receiving a sense prior to the other side. Sometimes the signals get messed up in a way that it feels like you've had the exact same situation, while it actually occurs at normal time, but the other part of your brian either doesn't notice it until a moment later, or your bain is working slow.

An example is sitting in a car, you're having a conversation, and you get the sense that you've had it before because of a particular phrase. The actuality is, part of your brain receives the information slower (not truly noticeable) sothat it makes you feel like you remember the exact situation. That is why you can never exactly place the time of the prior occurance (the moment of the original moment). Perhaps it is sleep related, which would explain why your brains neural signals would not exactly match up.

Or else the event truly has happened before, but then it isn't really deja-vu, it just happens your life is so boring that you continually do the exact same thing.

Or its just a glitch in the system where something is changed. Whoa!

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Easy Mac
I thought deja-vu was just the act of 1 portion of your brain receiving a sense prior to the other side. Sometimes the signals get messed up in a way that it feels like you've had the exact same situation, while it actually occurs at normal time, but the other part of your brian either doesn't notice it until a moment later, or your bain is working slow.

An example is sitting in a car, you're having a conversation, and you get the sense that you've had it before because of a particular phrase. The actuality is, part of your brain receives the information slower (not truly noticeable) sothat it makes you feel like you remember the exact situation. That is why you can never exactly place the time of the prior occurance (the moment of the original moment). Perhaps it is sleep related, which would explain why your brains neural signals would not exactly match up.

Or else the event truly has happened before, but then it isn't really deja-vu, it just happens your life is so boring that you continually do the exact same thing.

Or its just a glitch in the system where something is changed. Whoa!

I've heard something similiar. I've heard that it's basically a brain foul-up where what is happening is being stored to memory and accidentally being recalled a nanosecond later so that you feel like you really HAVE had the experience before.

So basically your brain is recording a memory and referencing it at the same time. That's what I've heard. Sounds like a believable theory.


But to me I know Deja Vu always feels like something I *dreamed* months earlier, that is know happening exactly as my mind prediceted it would.

[Easy Mac]

I agree, and deja-vu is still occuring about the same rate, once every 6 months or so, maybe decreasing a little.

[Draft Dodger]

I actually had deja vu the other day, on this very board.

there was a post that had been just placed that I had SWORN I had already read.

[Draft Dodger]

"I am in the process of writing a paper for a class I will end up hopefully taking in the summer, so I am getting a head start"

you are starting a paper now for a class you MAY take in the future?

wtf is WRONG with you, man?

[HornedFrog Purple]

DD if I answered that question it would make the mp3 list thread look small.

I have read about the hemisphere reflection theories also. My only contention is that as someone said some of the deja-vu experiences you can trace back to some time that you have slept or taken a nap as the precognition. It certainly explains some, but I dont think all.

The interesting thing about them is some events are triggered from routines/things you do everyday, and others are one of a kind or rare events. In those cases there is speculation that the overload of your senses to a new environment causes the "reflection" ie your brain is catching up.

The scariest thing of all is I havent written a formal paper in about 10 years.

[Airhog]

I have had precognitive dreams, at least once or twice. I had a really vivid dream about this girl in middle school. Two weeks later she transferred into our school.

[Lathum]

Mostly I feel I've dreamnt something.

If this is a topic that interests you then you HAVE GOT TO READ The Celestein Prophecy. It is amazing.

[WSUCougar]

I selected "Once a Month" as an average, but it varies a great deal with me.

The incidents have declined in frequency in the past few years, but around four years ago I reached the peak of deja vu occurences in my life, both in terms of frequency and intensity. At times it was almost disturbing.

The most vivid instance I can ever recall came during that time. Like almost all of my deja vu experiences, it was a mundane part of daily life. My friend and I were having a conversation, and I entered that deja vu state, and it came to the point where I was about half a second off from knowing what he was going to say. Not just knowing, but almost literally being able to interject into the conversation what was going to be said a moment later.

This friend of mine is a pyschologist, and we've talked about deja vu a lot. He is of the opinion that you can develop and hone your ability to interact with the experience. It's a very interesting topic.

Sorry for the long answer.

[Kodos]

Deja vu? Didn't you just ask me that!

[digamma]

Increased.
Usually I will feel like I recognize a situation or a conversation. I agree with Lathum that it is usually like I feel like I've lived this particulary situation in a dream.

[EagleFan]

I think it has decreased, and the dramatic feel has decreaded too. I think that's part of aging. As you get older you have more experiences that have happened before so you're not doing something new as much.

My most vivid memory of the feeling was once as a kid. I was going somewhere with my parents on vacation that we had never been and I just had this feeling that I was there before. To the point that I asked my parents if we could stop to eat at (now I can't remember where it was) a place. They looked at me puzzled and asked where I was talking about. I then told them it's right next to (again the name escapes me) some place, across the street from (again memory lapse now) another place. As we came over a hill and around a bend, there it was, just as I described. I had no idea where that memory came from and my paretns where shocked as they said that we had never been near there before.

I've had other less dramatic moments but they have all seemed to be coming less frequently.

[Barkeep49]

My frequency has increased leading me to believe that I'm just an old 20 year old.

My most vivid memory was when I saw the premier of a particular tv show and I swore that I had already seen the show.

[sterlingice]

Nah, that's just all the retarded shows that are copies of everything else. For instance, the sitcom with the bitchy, in charge wife and the stupid husband who make bad one liners and always does something dumb before getting put in his place by his wife. You'll feel a lot like that this summer, too, with all the sequels coming out and all.

SI

[Draft Dodger]

Originally posted by Airhog
I have had precognitive dreams, at least once or twice

I have them quite often - I wouldn't mind if my dream last night came true. Hopefully, my wife will understand...

[BishopMVP]

Originally posted by sterlingice
Basically, the first time, I'll have deja vu about driving and changing the radio station to a certain song and I'll have that one a couple of times over the next few weeks. But also, I may then start a second "set" of deja vu where a couple of times in the same couple of weeks I walk to the kitchen, forget what I'm looking for, open the fridge, and then remember I want bread on top of the fridge. So then I'll have two or three of these sets running for a month and then it will just go away again and it will be another couple of months before I have deja vu again.

hth, SI

Isn't that just coincidence more than Deja Vu?

In the poll I put never. I guess I am too rational to be a very psychic person. I also never remember my dreams at all, so maybe my results check with your thesis, HFP.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by BishopMVP
Isn't that just coincidence more than Deja Vu?

I put never. I guess I am too rational to be a very psychic person. I also never remember my dreams at all, so maybe my results check with your thesis, HFP.

I knew exactly what you were going to say!

[sterlingice]

*stabs kodos with a large swordfish*

SI

EDIT: No animals were harmed in this stabbing, provided we consider Kodos another sentient species and not an animal.

[kcchief19]

In the last five years, has your deja-vu frequency increased or decreased?
I'm 31 and it has decreased for me. I've experience almost all my life. It was heaviest during the end of high school/college, between 16 and 22.

Oddly, my experiences are often very "ordinary." I will feel like I have been in a place before when I know I haven't been there. Oftentimes, I will feel that I have a dreamed of a particular place or event.

The most unusual sensations I ever had were before/during my junior year of high school. I was on my high school speech team and went to debate camp during the summer (insert bad masterdebator joke here). During that week, I didn't get much sleep. When I did sleep, I had very vivid dreams of being at debate tournaments. At this point, I had never been to a tournament.

Yet throughout the year, I would experience deja vu at nearly every tournament. The most powerful experience was when I a guy I had not met until after debate camp came up from behind me at a high school I had never been to before and put me into a headlock just joking around. As soon as he let go, the most powerful feeling came over me that I had experienced this before. I remembered having a dream that played out exactly like this during the debate camp. But at that time, I had not met this guy nor had I been in the school where the tournament was before. But the sights and sounds were identical to my dream.

I still experience deja vu, but it's much less frequent, maybe once or twice a year.

[kcchief19]

Dola -- Horned,

Very intriguing I posted my above response before I read the rest of the thread. I didn't want my recollections influenced by anything I read, so I mentioned the dreaming part before I read your hypothesis.

Like some of the others, I would definitely classify my experiences as coming in bunches. And they also came at times when my sleep schedule was erratic, primarily at the end of high school and in college.

Like I said, my deja vu experiences almost exclusively related back to things that I believe I dreamed previously. I'm not convinced that I'm "clairvoyant," although, if I were, it would just be my luck that I would be clairvoyant about stuipd every crap and not things like the winner of the Super Bowl or stock tips.

I also can't believe that no one has yet posted:

"I don't think so, but I can check with the kitchen."

[korme]

Someone please explain deja vu. Do you remember/picture yourself in an old situation, as youre near the same place as a past time, or what?

I don't think I've ever had it. I feel so left out.

[Qwikshot]

I felt it sometimes, generally though not during the year, as much as it happened when I had traveled somewhere.

[NoMyths]

Increased.
Situation.

[EagleFan]

Originally posted by Shorty3281
Someone please explain deja vu. Do you remember/picture yourself in an old situation, as youre near the same place as a past time, or what?

I don't think I've ever had it. I feel so left out.

It's a feeling that you've done something before. Sometimes it may be that you have and just forgot about it, but many times it's something that you haven't done.

"I keep getting deja'vu and amnesia at the same time." (Sorry, love some of his stuff.)

[Senator]

I have to!

Deja Vu

The cast:

BONIFACE
Michael Palin
MILKMAN
Eric Idle
DR. CREAM
Terry Jones

The sketch:

(Caption on the screen: 'IT'S THE MIND -- A WEEKLY MAGAZINE OF THINGS PSYCHIATRIC' Cut to montage of photographs again with captions and music. Cut to a man sitting at usual desk. He is Mr Boniface.)
Boniface: Good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind', we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu. That strange feeling we sometimes get that we've lived through something before, that what is happening now has already happened. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange feeling we sometimes get that we've ... (looks puzzled fir a moment) Anyway, tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange...

(Cut to opening title sequence with montage of psychiatric photos and the two captions and music over. Cut back to Mr Boniface at desk, shaken. Caption on screen: 'IT'S THE MIND')

Boniface: Good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange feeling we someti... mes get ... that ... we've lived through something...

(Cut to opening titles again. Back then to Boniface, now very shaken. Caption on screen: 'IT'S THE MIND')

Boniface: Good ... good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of dddddddddddéjà vvvvvvvvuu, that extraordinary feeling... quite extraordinary... (he tails off, goes quiet, the phone rings, he picks it up) No, fine thanks, fine. (he rings off, a man comes in on the right and hands him glass of water and leaves) Oh, thank you. That strange feeling we sometimes get that we've lived through something before. (phone rings again; he picks it up) No, fine thank you. Fine. (he rings off a man comes in from right and hands him a glass of water; he jumps) ... Thank you. That strange feeling ... (phone rings; he answers) No. Fine, thank you. Fine, (ring off; a man enters and gives him glass of water) thank you. (he screams with fear) Look, something's happening to me. I - I - urn, I think I'd better go and see someone. Goodnight.

(Phone rings again. He leaps from desk and runs out of shot. He runs out of building into street and chases after passing milk float and leaps aboard.)

Milkman: Oi, haven't I seen you somewhere before?

Boniface: No, doctor, no. Something very funny's happening to me.

(Caption on the screen: 'IT'S THE MIND -- A WEEKLY MAGAZINE OF THINGS PSYCHIATRIC' Cut to montage of photographs again with captions and music. Cut to Boniface at desk. Boniface screams and runs out of shot. Cut to same piece of film as just previously, when he chases float, leaps on and the milkman says

Milkman: Oi, haven't I seen you somewhere before?

Boniface: No, doctor, no. Something very funny's happening to me. The milk float goes past in the background with the milkman and Boniface on it. We see the float go along the country lane past the clearing, past the bishop...

Bishop: (camp) 'Oh, Mr Belpit, your legs are so swollen'.

(.. and the secretary at her desk, past a sign saying 'to the zoo' where explosions are heard, and stops outside Dr Cream's building... Boniface runs into building and enters Dr Cream's office.)

Dr Cream: Ah, come in. Now what seems to be the matter?

Boniface: I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu.

((Repeat same clip from Boniface entering.)

Dr Cream: Ah, come in. Now what seems to be the matter?

Boniface: I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu..

(Repeat clip again. Superimposed Credits)

Dr Cream: Ah, come in. Now what seems to be the matter?

Boniface: I have this terrible feeling of déjà vu..

(Clip starts to repeat again as the programme ends.)

[tucker342]

It seems like I get deja-vu about once a week. Which is much more than I used to get it.