Déjà Vu: A Blogpost So Nice You'll Read It Twice

Are you reading this for the second time? Or is it just déjà vu? The world may never know. 

An artist's depiction of déjà vu

We've all experienced déjà vu at one point or another in our lives. The feeling that somehow, the memory you are actively making in the moment has actually happened to you before. You look around, everything is exactly how you "remember it", everything plays out perfectly. You can't predict what's going to happen next, but somehow you have already experienced it. Then all of a sudden you snap out of it, resuming a normal person's way of life. 

So now I imagine you are asking, why does this happen? Well, scientists aren't completely certain on how it occurs, but apparently one thing they are certain about is that it's not a sign that we're living in The Matrix. In my opinion, this is a rather boring conclusion by scientists. Nonetheless, let's jump into what scientists say.

Diagram of a human brain

Déjà vu is caused by a circuit malfunction in your brain that causes you to perceive what is happening in the moment as a memory. Memory is stored in the temporal lobe of the brain, so logically it is where the circuit malfunction takes place. Evidence to support this is that people who experience temporal lobe epilepsy have similar "glitches" during a seizure. However, this does not meant that if you experience déjà vu you have an unhealthy brain, or have epilepsy. Déjà vu is a totally normal, and about 2/3 of humans experience it.

I feel the need to mention some alternative theories. Some people say that déjà vu could possibly be a memory you have from a past life, or an alternative universe. These theories are not backed up by science, but they are, in my opinion, more fun than an electrical circuit malfunction in your brain. Next time you experience déjà vu, just think about how you could have been seeing an alternative universe or one of your past lives.

Throughout my life, I have experienced déjà vu numerous times. The funny thing is, whenever I do, I try to remember what is "supposed" to happen next and I try not to do that. Sadly, this hasn't worked, and seemingly everything I do during the déjà vu moment I do in fact "remember". If I ever have déjà vu and I manage to break the moment, I will update this post as long as the world doesn't somehow end because of it.

If you do choose to read this blogpost over, it's like Yogi Berra said, it's "déjà vu all over again".