The Difference Between Deja Vu and Coincidence

The Difference Between Deja Vu and Coincidence

Déjà vu, this term has been around for quite awhile now, but what exactly does it mean. Many of us use this term in conversation and writing with out knowing the correct meaning of the word, or even what it truly is. The word 'déjà vu' has basically become a cover-all label for any hard to explain occurrences which have an eerie and unexpected recognition, or just someone having trouble identifying the events that seem so strangely and intensely familiar. I hope my paper can help put a stop to that and give people some insight to what exactly this phenomena is.

Déjà vu has been mistaken for many other associations ranging from reincarnation to temporal lobe epilepsy. So many so, that the people who study it would like to do away with the term 'déjà vu' and draw attention to the 3 more specifics forms which are: [1] Déjà Vecu, [2] Déjà Senti, and [3] Déjà Visite. Being that the first to investigate these phenomena were the French, the names remain in French.

First off, lets discuss Déjà Vecu, which means already experienced or lived though. This can be described best in quote from Charles Dickens,

"We have all some experience of a feeling, that comes over us occasionally, of what we are saying and doing having been said and done before, in a remote time - of our having been surrounded, dim ages ago, by the same faces, objects and circumstances - of our knowing perfectly what will be said next as if we suddenly remember it!"

When people have this feeling mentioned above, they call it déjà vu… if they even know a name for it at all. One third of the population have had such or similar experiences and surveys have shown that such experiences tend to occur more frequently and more intensely in younger people…between ages 15 - 25. In that group, the phenomenon is so striking the memory of the occurrence lasts for years. This is because these experiences don't just involve one of the senses, like sight…it also includes hearing, touch, and taste.

That's the reason it should not be referred to as simply déjà vu any longer, déjà vecu describes it much better.

Another feature of déjà vecu is that, along with amazing detail being involved, you are totally conscious that everything conforms to your memory of it when you are in the midst of the occurrence.