Wednesday, September 5, 2001
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Wednesday, September 5, 2001 |
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Déjà vu and déjà vu
By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
I've been thinking a lot about déjà vu lately. That doesn't mean that I'm going to write about the Muppets again this week. Oh wow, that is so weird. It's like I've written that before. What is déjà vu ? Is it just a way for the French to define the undefinable, making themselves appear superior and frustrating the rest of the world? Probably not. Déjà vu is defined as an experience when one feels that the present moment, in all its exact detail, has been lived before. When one experiences déjà vu , it feels almost dreamlike. This can be very disconcerting and even frightening because you know that you are awake and can't possibly be dreaming. Science has said that déjà vu is a momentary alternation of consciousness, caused by a minor seizure in the temporal lobe of the brain. New age types say that déjà vu is memories of past lives. I think I'll choose memories of past lives over seizures any day of the week. However, it can't really be memories of past lives because one of the times I experienced déjà vu was eating burgers at Burger King. I highly doubt that there was a time, when I was Abraham Lincoln, that I went out and ate burgers and fries with my friends. The dictionary definition of déjà vu is disagreeable familiarity or sameness. In my experiences, déjà vu hasn't always been disagreeable. It is strange and what usually sets it off is auditory rather than visual. I will hear someone say something, like "Cow tipping is a blast" and I'm there. I remember being exactly where I am and with the same people and hearing the same things. I begin to search my brain as to what comes next and why I'm experiencing déjà vu and I can't come up with anything. What I want to know is what is the significance of déjà vu . Why is that particular moment being repeated? Have you lived that moment before? Is it a glitch in the matrix and will I wake up one day to realize that I am merely a battery for a race of computers that have taken over the planet. Probably not. Whether you think of déjà vu as a seizure, a memory of your past life or a Dionne Warwick song, chances are you will have a moment that you swear you have been in before. When you get there, try not to panic and order a chocolate shake. |
