A Deep Dive on Deja Vu and Jamais Vu ~ Non-Fiction

We’ve heard the term Deja Vu many times, you’ve possibly even felt it at least once. Turning a corner and suddenly being overwhelmed with the feeling that you’ve been here before or sitting down on a chair, starting a conversation with someone, but feeling like you’ve experienced this exact situation.

So is there an explanation for this, a scientific one? Yes. Deja Vu occurs when there is a delay of information being sent from one part of your brain to the other. Due to this, information ends up being sent twice, making you feel like you’ve experienced something before.

Puzzle solved then, right? Well not exactly because in this piece, I will be unraveling the mystery of a term not so familiar to many people, Jamais Vu, and diving deep into a single theory on what Deja Vu and Jamais Vu might actually be.

So let’s start with what Jamais Vu is. In short, it is the opposite of Deja Vu, feeling like a situation or person that should be familiar, isn’t. An example of this can be writing down a word you’ve written hundreds of times before but forgetting how to spell it. Another example could be forgetting the password you’ve used for years, or even forgetting the path to work or school for just a split second. Interestingly, Jamais Vu can be seen in patients with illnesses such as epilepsy or amnesia. These, however, are extreme cases of Jamais Vu, meaning that it is felt numerous times throughout a single day. 

(Remember, if you experience Jamais Vu on a regular basis, you should let your doctor know because this is not normal at all.) 

Jamais Vu can be a beautiful experience if you let it be. It allows you to stop and rethink a word or a place you have become accustomed to, creating new memories with this specific word or place. Take, for example, the word ‘believe’. You are writing down a sentence and just as you write down ‘believe’ you suddenly feel as if it is spelled wrong. You stare at it, tilting your head to different angles, but it still looks odd. You are now experiencing Jamais Vu. Instead of freaking out, appreciate this moment. Your mind is allowing you the rare opportunity to create a clean slate and to experience this word for the first time, again. So, soak in the beauty of the unfamiliarity that you are feeling because it truly is really special. Be in awe of the confusion you are facing toward whether the ‘e’ goes before the ‘i’ or whether or not there are two e’s. Notice all the details of this situation and savour them because they will be gone within a few seconds. Jamais Vu makes you a visitor in your own school, for example, and it allows you to experience every little aspect and object as if it is completely new and as if you have never been here before. In a way, this is truly beautiful. 

The following theory is a very interesting one about Deja Vu and Jamais Vu. 

It is the belief that Deja Vu is not so much that a place or situation is familiar. It is the FEELINGS or EMOTIONS you have previously attached to certain places or situations that are familiar. Take this scenario for example. You are laying down on your couch with your eyes closed, feeling a slight breeze passing through the window. Sounds of children playing and laughing fill your ears and the sweet, warm smell of freshly-baked cookies fills your nose. Now fast forward a few years. You are sitting on a park bench, listening to the echoes of children playing and laughing. You feel the cool breeze pass through you and smell baked goods from a stand nearby. You suddenly think, “Deja Vu!” Well is it really the experience that seems to be repeated or the feelings? Well according to this theory, it is solely the feelings of warmth, melancholy, and possibly even hunger that are being repeated. Therefore, Deja Vu is the outcome.  

Just like that, Jamais Vu is feeling new emotions that you wouldn’t normally associate with a certain place or situation. Take for example, going back to your childhood home. You remember feeling innocence, comfort, joy, etc. Instead, now you are left staring at this building you can’t seem to recognize. According to the theory, it is not the building you can’t perceive, it is the new feelings of emptiness, loneliness, and possibly even sadness that your brain is beginning to associate with your home, that you can’t perceive.

No matter what theory you believe in about these two odd feelings, one thing I think everyone can agree on is that both Deja Vu and Jamais Vu are extremely fascinating. These feelings are two of the most difficult emotions for many people to wrap their minds around and receiving the opportunity to experience them is incredibly enchanting in its own peculiar way.

 

Sources:

https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/question657.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160413113530.htm

https://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/99/maya/tech/finalproject/jamaisvu.html

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/fighting-fear/201301/theory-deja-vu-and-jamais-vu