I'll Say it Again...

Yesterday, I heard a BBC radio program, Outlook, on déjà vu. Two interesting tidbits: 1) most people find this sensation pleasant, and 2) some people experience chronic déjà vu. It's a problem for the chronic sufferers, because they are consistently convinced they've done things before, to the point that they don't want to, for instance, watch TV or play games because they believe that they have already seen or done that.

I found #1 intriguing, because although I find déjà vu pleasant, it always bothered me that there wasn't a real reason for it to seem pleasant. Except that, like weird dreams, it's another odd human experience that happens infrequently. So I was surprised that, apparently, many other people find it pleasant, as well. Why?

I was shocked and amused at the number of people they interviewed that believed déjà vu was evidence of reincarnation or that humans are psychic. Um... yeah. Let's just say human brains are wired in odd ways, and leave it at that. Nothing supernatural about thinking you've been at that train station at 9am and seen a man in a purple raincoat before. I hope not, anyway.

And we all know the best explanation for it, right? (C'mon, We all know the first movie is worth pretending the other two didn't happen.)

My most memorable déjà vu experience: sometime in my middle school years, I'm standing at the counter on the dining room side, Dad on the kitchen side, and as I begin to speak, I look down and see a Hershey's chocolate bar--and it flashes that I've said this, with Dad in the kitchen, while looking at the Hershey's bar, before. For about 4.5 seconds I wonder if I dreamed it last night, before it occurs to me that this is just déjà vu. Darned convincing, though.

What's yours?