Deja vu is a common phenomenon where you recognize something but have no idea why. The best explanations for deja vu are the following. Maybe your brain has recognized a pattern that you had seen in another context, but you don’t remember what the context was. Maybe you were in an unconscious state of daydreaming, and when you regain your consciousness you become surprised at how familiar the environment is.
The experience of deja vu is very well known.
When I was about 10 I thought of it as the situation where you feel like you’ve dreamed about this before. In short, the feeling of deja vu is recognizing something but having no idea why you recognize it. This is why deja vu is so common.
The video below has actually given some answers to why deja vu happens. Here are two things that I think are really good explanations of deja vu.
The hologram theory says that your brain has recognized a pattern that you had seen in another context, but you don’t remember what the context was. Therefore, you recognize something and you don’t know why.
The divided attention theory says that you were at somewhere but you were unfocused, maybe deep in thought or staring at one particular thing. So you are in an unconscious state of daydreaming, and when you regain your consciousness you become surprised at how familiar the environment is.
Also, it is a habit of mine to say the words “deja vu” whenever I feel it, because I feel obligated to say it, for some reason.
Another side note, there is the quote “what if deja vu was dying and being reloaded to the save point?” lol.
https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_molina_what_is_deja_vu_what_is_deja_vu + Michael Molina: What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | TED Talk + You might have felt it — the feeling that you’ve experienced something before, but, in reality, the experience is brand new. There are over 40 theories that attempt to explain the phenomenon of déjà vu. Michael Molina explains how neuroimaging and cognitive psychology have narrowed down the theories that could explain that feeling you’re having…again. [Directed by Josh Harris, narrated by Michelle Snow].