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Even The Blind Get Deja Vu
zentropa writes "Cosmos magazine is reporting that even the blind experience deja vu — backing the idea that it is caused by misfires in the brain's temporal lobe. They quote a British study where a blind man feels like he has 'already seen' some unfamiliar situations. 'Hearing and touch and smell often seem to intermingle in the déjà vu experiences,' said the study subject, whose name has not been made public. 'It is almost like photographic memory, without sight obviously... as if I was encountering a mini-recording in my head, but trying to think "Where have I come across that before?"'"
...or have I seen this article before?
from the again-for-the-first-time dept.
Isn't that slashdot's motto?
Next you'll be telling me that blind people can feel emotions and think logically, just like regular people!
When I get the deja vu feeling, it is usually because I feel as I have heard something (or discussed something with someone) before. If my sighted deja vu is mostly auditory, why is it a surprise that someone who can't see experiences the same feeling?
What happens if you have deja vu of a false deja vu memory from virtual reality?
I am sure I am not the only one who is not the slightest bit surprised. In fact I would be surprised if anyone told me that their deja vu exprience was primarily visual.
Every time I have had it it was a feeling of actually re-living the moment in every way and detail even down to the actions and thoughts I had seeming strangely familiar.
For me deja vu has been a completely immersive experience where no single one of my senses was predominant.
First off, with a little practice you can will yourself to have Deja Vu. Just think about how you felt the last time you had Deja Vu. Ask yourself if you remember seeing random things, etc. Eventually you mind just snaps into Deja Vu and if you do this often you can do it at will.
Why would you want to? Well, I've noticed this curious little thing; if you try to remember something when you're in the middle of Deja Vu, you won't be able to, forever. It's like you've erased a part of your memory. Why would you ever wanna forget anything? Well, its actually useful. Say you accidently found what your girlfriend is giving you for xmas. She's gone to all this trouble to hide it so it will be a surprise, and now you're going to have to fake it under the tree on xmas day. No problem, just walk away, wait an hour or two, will up some Deja Vu and try to remember what she got you. Quite apart from the fact that you could remember it 5 minutes ago, you can't remember it now, and you won't be able to remember on xmas day either. Sure, you'll be able to remember that you once could remember, but you won't be able to remember anymore.
It's also good for forgetting the password to your encrypted filesystem when the russians grab you. Not, that, you know, I need to do that.
How we know is more important than what we know.