If I think I understand you, this is sort of what some of us were discussing in the psychedelic thread. Sometimes there are “glitches in the matrix” that give us a glimpse into something else.
Spinoza and Mahayana Buddhism both talk about how intution can give use understanding into God (Spinoza) or Universal Mind (Buddhism). Both of these ideas of God of Spinoza and Mahayana are totally different from western religious God.
Do you ever get a sense of something that you just know you know, but you’re not sure how? What about feelings of conscious or sudden insight or “calling”? I think religious and non-religious people get these experiences. For me, that’s where it’s at.

So back to deja vu. Is that God/Universal Mind/your soul directly communicating with you? Maybe. Even if it’s not it’s your mind creating meaning out of the experience. Even that’s intuition, like a Jackson Polluck painting can be moving even though it’s just dribbled paint. Basically if it’s meaningful to you, then it’s meaningful. Of course we need discernment so we don’t think God is calling us to murder people. Like he does in the Torah... uh oh. But that’s a different can of worms.

If I think I understand you — MysticMonist

Yes it seems you understand where I'm coming from quite well.

Déjà vu is a common experience having several explanations. (One, a psychological phenomena of no great significance and two, sometimes associated with epilepsy (when epilepsy is actually present) or associated with certain drugs (when those drugs are actually being used). Having a good memory is most likely the cause of Déjà vu.

Is that God/Universal Mind/your soul directly communicating with you? — MysticMonist

Always a good idea to shave with Ockham's Razor.

Occam's razor (or Ockham's razor) is a principle from philosophy. Suppose there exist two explanations for an occurrence. In this case the simpler one is usually better. Another way of saying it is that the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation is.

Now wash your hair with Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo to keep your thinking sharp and clear.

Here are other "vu" you can talk about when you get tired of Déjà.

Jamais vu is a term in psychology which is used to describe any familiar situation which is not recognized by the observer. You arrive at your house, but do not recognize it.

Presque vu is the intense feeling of being on the very brink of a powerful epiphany, insight, or revelation, without actually achieving the revelation. The feeling is often therefore associated with a frustrating, tantalizing sense of incompleteness or near-completeness. Happens to me all the time.

Déjà rêvé is the feeling of having already dreamed something that you are now experiencing. Life is just a living nightmare.

Déjà entendu is the experience of feeling sure about having already heard something, even though the exact details are uncertain or were perhaps imagined. Typical.

Your comment have certainly inspire thought and study, Thank you.

If there are others that have experienced dejavu I'm very interested in your theories for what is happening here. — Another

I have experienced deja vu, but not often. It's a neat feeling. I enjoy feelings I can't explain (Not anxiety). I always think "what the fuck is going on in there." Like BitterCrank, I've read it's a perceptual thing - a little loop the loop inside your brain.

Do you ever get a sense of something that you just know you know, but you’re not sure how? — MysticMonist

I guess I'm what you would call a rational person. I'm an engineer. I told my wife it was ok to raise our children Catholic as long as they each took physics in high school. Before I became a bit more sophisticated intellectually, I couldn't imagine how anyone could not believe in materialism. I pride myself on being able to know what I know and how I know it. That's a skill I really need for my job.

And yet, when I look closely inside myself, all I see is intuition. Consciousness always seems like a paint job - something added at the end to make things pretty. I know everything I know just because I know it. I love that feeling. It makes me feel like I am one undivided thing. At home in myself and in the world.

It has always seemed strange to me, inconsistent, that even with that feeling, I've mostly been unhappy in my life. We are all so odd.

Always a good idea to shave with Ockham's Razor. — Bitter Crank

I didn’t know there are other kinds of vu’s that’s funny, thanks.

So yeah I’m on the verge of falling into complete absurdity. You’ll often find this type of stuff online. People who make a big deal out of seeing 3s on their call list, on the clock (every 10 mins too!!) and make it into being spiritually significant. Any numbers of likely coincidences or self induced feelings become deeply significant. That’s the realm of self absorbed spiritual immaturity or worse delusion and maybe even schizophrenia.

So clearly not every instance of deja vu is telling us something. Another seemed to think it was significant though. Perhaps there’s a reason.

Take an example. St Augustine was famously sitting in a room and was having a spiritual crisis of faith. He heard a child outside singing a common song at the time “Tolle Legge” or take and read. He felt moved to pick up the Bible and was transformed by the experience. Ockham’s Razor would say this wasn’t God but a child being bored waiting on their parents.

That’s a very theistic example. What about pangs of conscious or just a “sense” of something you should do? Maybe a Christian God doesn’t exist but Augustine was sensing/tapping into a world consciousness, a zietgiest, or collective conciousness that called towards a life of theology rather than unchaste living. Maybe there was nothing outside of him was there at all, but his own human spirit (in a non-literal sense) came to a point that he realized devoting his life to seeking Truth (as he conceived of it) was better than seeking to get laid.

Assuming we aren’t total nihilists, we think there is meaning or we can create meaning. Most of the time we don’t perceive or make this meaning thru sitting still and thinking really hard deductively about it. That’s why we can’t prove or disprove God, it’s not a deductive thing. We discover this meaning thru intution possibly even sparked by a singing child or by deja vu. Why not?

The trick is discernment. But I’d rather be free to follow my own intuitions (and risk being delusional) than relying on someone else like a priest or a rabbi tell me about their intuitions or what some guy thousands of years ago had a intution about.

The trick is discernment. — MysticMonist

Indeed.

People do have moments of great insight, conversion, doubt, and so on--experiences on the road to Damascus. Not often, but sometimes. Our intuitional "bolts out of the blue" have to arise from what we already know. We owe a lot to very persistent persons and their congeries far into the night that finally led to "Eureka!" moments.

How our brains/minds process, reprocess, shuffle, reappraise... takes place at a level we can't get down to. There are way too many neurons, way too many connections, way too many processes, way too much opaque organization in the brain that just isn't observable.

One of the insights coming out of neurological studies is that memories aren't static. When you remember something, anything, trivial or important, it isn't like calling something out of "read-only- memory". Computers have read-only-memory, we don't. A memory becomes a sort of 'live experience' which after being remembered is put back into memory, (probably among the same neurons) but slightly changed.

So, one day you happen to remember sitting in English class, and the teacher was talking about... oh, let's say Emily Dickinson's poem, A narrow Fellow in the Grass. It is about a snake. Since high school English class, long ago, you have developed a little fear about snakes. The memory of the moment in English class will be colored by your more recent snake experiences, which are also memories being called up and re-stored. So now, in this moment, the memory of English class and A narrow Fellow in the Grass 15 years ago gets colored by that snake experience in the swamp two years ago.

I don't want to exaggerate here -- even though memories get called up and re-stored, and are affected by the process of recall, they still seem reasonably stable--especially when the emotional content isn't too loaded, which is most of the time.

I think I've seen this topic before...

I thought deja vu was a skip in time that allows you to be suspended for that brief moment and when you engage back in the reality, it feels like you have been there before, with the exact same people, talking about the same thing ect. It feels like you have been there before because you were there just like in "buffering" mode.

There are explanations for these types of thing.

Your example of seeing certain number constantly for instance is one which I have spent quite some time looking into and there are many explinations. The better of which I found to be a scientific one which in short leant towards our predisposition to recognise patterns not unlike our tenancy to recognise faces in inanimate objects.
Although these explanations made a lot of sense they did not explain every instance and did not satisfy the sensation that came with the experiences.
Just like these theories with Dejavu, I see that they make sense and I think it would be arrogant of me to rule out as BC said the endured and tireless efforts people have put into studying this subject and the theories their efforts have led the to.
I still find however that these theories don't satisfy my curiosity, One because I don't believe I have epilepsy two because the strongest experiences I have had with dejavu was at quite young ages and I had yet to experience recreational drug and was not on any medication in most instances of dejavu. Three during a handful of my experiences of dejavu I was not only accompanied with the feeling that I had done this before but I also had memory of the imminent future which on different occasions I have both watch that memory play out and gone about issuing change. These experiences are often more than just vision but accompanied by sound, smell, emotion and a strong feelings of intuition.

I understand the fact that these explanations don't satisfy me does not in any way mean that these theories are wrong.

I'm simply saying that don't work perfectly for me, I have had other experience in my life which could not be explained by science or study. And from the way I see it they could only be explained by theories that most would quickly laugh at and I would almost certainly be labeled crazy, For that reason I keep the details of these experiences and my theories mostly to myself.

The Theories that I have been lead to read about dejavu (Thankyou for pointing me in this direction BC) have me wondering still about different dimensions or matrix if you may. Is it crazy to think that epileptic episodes or seizures and the interruption of neuron firing could be caused be interference from another dimension.
With the explanation the dejavu is often brought about by drug usage, I've read many articles and listened to many accounts where drug usage has supposedly opened up a gateway for people into what could be described as a different dimension/paradigm. Use of drugs in the history in a more primitive time was widely know to be used solely for the means of reaching these enlightened states.

As always I am not saying anyone is wrong and quite the opposite, your answers have provided me with more prices to my puzzle, unfortunately I still need a few more prices before this puzzle is complete. I am so excited to see the whole picture.
Thankyou for your help.

Certainly a thought which hold substance for me , Cheers

I think I've seen this topic before... — Wosret

I'm new to this forum and must have missed it sorry. In your recollection what did you take from previous said thread?
Please

Not really, I was just being cute, one of my specialties. I don't experience deja vu, I get jamais vu -- it's the feeling you get when you realize that those that are closest to you have been replaced by exact doubles by the FBI, or aliens... not sure, I'll tell you how the interrogation goes.

I don't despite that some of these experiences and sensations could simply be a manifestation of misfiring in my brain I just find it hard to take as explanation in all situations, I have previously had a very strong onset of undefined sensations well before an event has occured.

Not really, I was just being cute, one of my specialties. I don't experience deja vu, I get jamais vu -- it's the feeling you get when you realize that those that are closest to you have been replaced by exact doubles by the FBI, or aliens... not sure, I'll tell you how the interrogation goes. — Wosret

Interesting please do.

So yeah I’m on the verge of falling into complete absurdity. You’ll often find this type of stuff online. People who make a big deal out of seeing 3s on their call list, on the clock (every 10 mins too!!) and make it into being spiritually significant. Any numbers of likely coincidences or self induced feelings become deeply significant. That’s the realm of self absorbed spiritual immaturity or worse delusion and maybe even schizophrenia. — MysticMonist

I think you're being a bit uncharitable here. As Another discusses below, humans seek patterns. It's my understanding it's built in, human nature. That pattern seeking keeps running when it has what we might consider nothing to operate on. You see a lot of that on this forum (he said with a smirk). Seeing what numerologists and Bible code believers come up with can be amusing, but also interesting as an indication of how our minds work.

How our brains/minds process, reprocess, shuffle, reappraise... takes place at a level we can't get down to. There are way too many neurons, way too many connections, way too many processes, way too much opaque organization in the brain that just isn't observable. — Bitter Crank

It's always seemed to me that what people call enlightenment is someone becoming aware of levels below those we normally have access to.

So, one day you happen to remember sitting in English class, and the teacher was talking about... oh, let's say Emily Dickinson's poem, A narrow Fellow in the Grass. — Bitter Crank

I remember 11 grade English class. Eleventy-seven years ago. Mrs. Keopcke. One of the best teachers I ever had. She showed me what it feels like to write. We had to write an essay about a poem or some poems. I chose to write about the use of grass as a symbol in three poems. One of them was by Emily Dickenson. I think it was The Grass (so little has to do). I remember she said nice things about the paper but indicated that I had a tendency to go off in directions that weren't really related to the theme. A problem I still suffer from mumble mumble years later. I still think about her comment when I'm writing and I fall victim to that malady.

Just like these theories with Dejavu, I see that they make sense and I think it would be arrogant of me to rule out as BC said the endured and tireless efforts people have put into studying this subject and the theories their efforts have led the to.
I still find however that these theories don't satisfy my curiosity, — Another

A theme I come back and back to in my posts - One of the characteristics of a mature intellect is the ability to hold two contradictory thoughts in the mind at the same time without distress.

Maybe I wasn't clear. Epilepsy and drugs are not at all necessary to experience Déjà vu. But... IF one is epileptic, OR if one uses certain drugs, THEN one might experience Déjà vu as a result. But experiencing Déjà vu is no indication whatsoever that one is either epileptic or uses certain drugs.

I don't understand all this stuff either -- nobody does, yet anyway. And explanations one hands out may not reflect one's own experiences. For instance, what I said about memories being changed slightly every time they are brought up... I don't experience that. That is what the psychologists and neurological researchers say. But then, there is no way I can test whether my memories have been altered either. I can't be an objective observer of my own thinking.

One would have to test out this theory in the psych lab, with observers, structured memory and recall experiments, and many repetitions on many subjects to determine that memories were changed by being recalled.

Since Déjà vu isn't something that can be induced for research purposes (at least as far as I know) it would be hard to study this in a lab.

Maybe I wasn't clear. Epilepsy and drugs are not at all necessary to experience Déjà vu. But... IF one is epileptic, OR if one uses certain drugs, THEN one might experience Déjà vu as a result. But experiencing Déjà vu is no indication whatsoever that one is either epileptic or uses certain drugs. — Bitter Crank

I didn't take it that way at all.
I took your the comments with appreciation and looked into what you were saying. The information I found I now use as evidence to build a better understanding of this subject because I think the information holds substance.
These are exactly the things I was hoping for when starting this thread.
I really mean it when I say Thank you.

You can to a degree, people like to call it the Mandela effect sometimes. Go to a place you were years ago, watch a movie you saw years ago, or read a book or something, you will find that both detailed recollection, and whole picture apprehension to be distinctly different now than you remember. I'm sure you've experienced that.

You can to a degree, people like to call it the Mandela effect sometimes. Go to a place you were years ago, watch a movie you saw years ago, or read a book or something, you will find that both detailed recollection, and whole picture apprehension to be distinctly different now than you remember. I've sure you've experienced that. — Wosret

Yes this is a fantastic point.
I do find it peculiar that with the Mandela effect and if it is a change our memory that in a lot of situation the change in what we remember is shared by many.
For example the dash in 'KitKat' or 'Kit-Kat'. There are so many examples like this where many people have experienced an identical alteration of memory.

That's because we tell stories, piece things together algorithmicly and heuristically, all falling back on the same kinds of principles for thought and action. There are only so many different ways it would make sense to reconstruct a coherent memory of something, the monopoly man having a monocle, rich fancy dudes often do, a dash or not in kitkat. No one remembers a little drawing of a dinosaur in there though, or remembers the monopoly man being a red neck, or indian chief.

No one remembers a little drawing of a dinosaur in there though, or remembers the monopoly man being a red neck, or indian chief. — Wosret

I thinks it's hard to say what one person to another does or doesn't retain in their memories.
I agree with your point about us telling stories, piecing things together and filling in gaps with what we assimilate, So in some situations I think this would be an accurate explanation.

At the risk again of sounding crazy, When there is a situation where I have two conflicting memories of the same event. Both memories being my own, and I seem unable to decifer which one is correct to what would I attribute this? And if one was a correction of the other why has my mind not overwritten the first memory with the corrected one, But instead left traces of both despite their contradiction.

I guess this would just support a case where it is that our memories are fallible and cannot be relied on as fact.

I don't risk sounding crazy, I strive for it. One time my roommate used my little metal tea container dealy, and put it in his cup of tea, and it all spontaneously boiled over, and he was shocked and confused, but I told him that it was all full of air, and when you put it in the hot water like that, and it's heavy and metal, it sunk quickly, quickly forcing the air through the holes, making it appear to boil, and then I saw his face go from being shocked at something fantastic, to seeing it mundane, and feeling silly, and then turn to rejection, and denied that that was the whole story. Doesn't make as good of a story. Just like life of pi. Insertion of the fantasy amps up the emotional significance, memories are emotionally tagged and ordered as well. I imagine that not knowing how we feel about something makes us also not quite sure about how we remember it from time to time as well.

I guess this would just support a case where it is that our memories are fallible and cannot be relied on as fact. — Another

Don't have much of a choice on that most of the time, can't be too uncertain of our thoughts and recollections, or we wouldn't be able to operate in the world, but shouldn't be too sure either, or we won't be as willing to update, and reevaluate them. Somewhere in the middle is usually best.

At the risk again of sounding crazy, When there is a situation where I have two conflicting memories of the same event. Both memories being my own, and I seem unable to decifer which one is correct to what would I attribute this? And if one was a correction of the other why has my mind not overwritten the first memory with the corrected one, But instead left traces of both despite their contradiction. — Another

I think our memories can do whatever they "want." Nothing seems inconsistent. I sometimes have memories but I'm not sure whether they really happened or whether they were dreams. I also sometimes have memories of things that happened a long time ago. When I talk about them with someone who was there, they say "oh, no, that's not what happened, here's what really happened ...." As soon as I hear their description, I know they're right. Their memory makes a lot more sense than mine does in context, but that doesn't change my original memory.

I guess this would just support a case where it is that our memories are fallible and cannot be relied on as fact. — Another

From what I've heard about false memories and also unreliable confessions, if I were on a jury, I don't know if I could vote to convict someone if there wasn't some other more reliable evidence in addition to those.

I don't risk sounding crazy, I strive for it. — Wosret

This is awesome.
When I start a statement with 'at the risk of sounding crazy' it because I envision a percentage of people writing off what I say as nonsense, I accept that and I wish to make the statement despite this.
I don't take offense to anyone thinking I'm crazy, in honesty I question my own sanity at time's.
This is not something I'm embarrassed of.
It seems in this forum I'm not completely alone with that and I've heard more rational conversations here than I have for most of my life.

I'm willing to take all of the credit for that. People, including ourselves, can write of accuracy and sense as fallacious nonsense sometimes too. The risks we take.

When I start a statement with 'at the risk of sounding crazy' it because I envision a percentage of people writing off what I say as nonsense, I accept that and I wish to make the statement despite this.

I don't take offense to anyone thinking I'm crazy, in honesty I question my own sanity at time's.
This is not something I'm embarrassed of. — Another

You haven't said anything even remotely crazy that I've read. When you say what you say, it makes you seem unconfident and I think it undermines your credibility. I know from where I speak - I've always put qualifications, jokes, and little asides in my personal writing, including what I write here. The more I pay attention, the more I understand that it puts a distance between me and what I say. It deflects responsibility. I have been working hard to remove that stuff from my writing. I always reread what I've written to correct punctuation, spelling, grammar, and word usage, but also to make sure that I say things directly. To make sure people know that the ideas are mine and I stand behind them.

That said, you should write the way you want.