Is there a name for something like the opposite of deja vu?
April 7, 2004 11:45 AM Subscribe
Is there a name for something like the opposite of deja vu? I experienced this today - where I felt like work was new and I hadn't experienced it for very long, same when I thought about my relationship, etc. Am I just losing it, or has anyone else experienced this feeling?
The comedians' response:
Robin Williams: "Vuja De: The strange, unexplainable feeling that somehow none of this has happened before"
George Carlin: "Do you ever get that strange feeling of vuja de? Not deja vu; vuja de. It's the distinct sense that, somehow, something that just happened has never happened before. Nothing seems familiar. And then suddenly the feeling is gone. Vuja de."
And, just cause I came across it, Steven Wright: "Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before."
posted by o2b at 12:17 PM on April 7, 2004
Robin Williams: "Vuja De: The strange, unexplainable feeling that somehow none of this has happened before"
George Carlin: "Do you ever get that strange feeling of vuja de? Not deja vu; vuja de. It's the distinct sense that, somehow, something that just happened has never happened before. Nothing seems familiar. And then suddenly the feeling is gone. Vuja de."
And, just cause I came across it, Steven Wright: "Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before."
posted by o2b at 12:17 PM on April 7, 2004
Response by poster: Geez, I hope I'm not developing epilepsy. Thanks, guys.
posted by agregoli at 12:42 PM on April 7, 2004
posted by agregoli at 12:42 PM on April 7, 2004
I've felt this before. (Wait...am I having deju vu of jamais vu?) It's an interesting experience, and I'm glad I have a name for it. Way to go AskMe!
(In an loosely related tangent - in college I lived across the hall from a set of twins. I forget what the elder one's name was, but the younger one was named Deja.)
posted by ArsncHeart at 1:49 PM on April 7, 2004
(In an loosely related tangent - in college I lived across the hall from a set of twins. I forget what the elder one's name was, but the younger one was named Deja.)
posted by ArsncHeart at 1:49 PM on April 7, 2004
Yes, I thought dissociation too - said to be quite common as a momentary experience. Can be mild or extreme (e.g. when one's own hand can seem far away at the end of a tunnel). Some people are more likely to experience mild dissociation than they are mild depression, as a (kind of ) defense against the feelings.
posted by suleikacasilda at 1:53 PM on April 7, 2004
posted by suleikacasilda at 1:53 PM on April 7, 2004
There an amazing short story by Italo Calvino, "The Flash" I think, about this feeling. Highly recommended.
posted by freebird at 1:58 PM on April 7, 2004
posted by freebird at 1:58 PM on April 7, 2004
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself - Well...How did I get here?
posted by Blue Stone at 1:59 PM on April 7, 2004
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself - Well...How did I get here?
posted by Blue Stone at 1:59 PM on April 7, 2004
Response by poster: Not really, Blue Stone. More like a feeling of doing something for the first time, even though I've been doing it for ages. Same with my relationship, I suddenly felt like I'd barely just met my guy, and we've been together over 2 years now. Weird sensation.
posted by agregoli at 2:04 PM on April 7, 2004
posted by agregoli at 2:04 PM on April 7, 2004
The story I mention is notable because it not only captures the feeling you describe, but how strangely wonderful it is - and the sadness, the feeling of loss, as "familiarity" settles back in.
It is disconcerting, but don't you find there's something deeply moving about the experience?
posted by freebird at 2:11 PM on April 7, 2004
It is disconcerting, but don't you find there's something deeply moving about the experience?
posted by freebird at 2:11 PM on April 7, 2004
that was my first thought, freebird. I would pay good money for this kind of experience.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:22 PM on April 7, 2004
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:22 PM on April 7, 2004
Sometimes, when the mind gets overloaded, the strangest things get shoved out of the available space. I've experienced it myself; I'm not epileptic, but clinically semi-depressed.
After all, when it's all been done before, it's just that much harder to remember it all.
Hey! Who are you people?
posted by wendell at 2:44 PM on April 7, 2004
After all, when it's all been done before, it's just that much harder to remember it all.
Hey! Who are you people?
posted by wendell at 2:44 PM on April 7, 2004
I forget what the elder one's name was, but the younger one was named Deja.
Let me guess--Presque?
posted by Skot at 2:47 PM on April 7, 2004
Let me guess--Presque?
posted by Skot at 2:47 PM on April 7, 2004
This is so apt--I just saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and I can't get it out of my head. That's jamais vu like a sumbitch.
posted by adamrice at 2:50 PM on April 7, 2004
posted by adamrice at 2:50 PM on April 7, 2004
ever see Dark City?
i have this thing, where i look around and realize that what i'm doing will eventually be something i look back to later as a deja vu.
posted by th3ph17 at 5:08 PM on April 7, 2004
i have this thing, where i look around and realize that what i'm doing will eventually be something i look back to later as a deja vu.
posted by th3ph17 at 5:08 PM on April 7, 2004
I'm about to move and make some big changes to the same-old-same-old. Anyway, I was talking the other day to my girlfriend about the feeling I was starting to get. "You know how you feel when you're setting out on a road trip?" I said. "It's like your eyes are open wider. You can see more and are really looking."
I don't know if that's the feeling you're having, exactly, but they seem like similar states of mind.
posted by maniactown at 6:52 PM on April 7, 2004
I don't know if that's the feeling you're having, exactly, but they seem like similar states of mind.
posted by maniactown at 6:52 PM on April 7, 2004
The chaplain in Catch-22 describes it perfectly also:
There were terrifying, sudden moments when objects, concepts and even people that the chaplain had lived with almost all his life inexplicably took on an unfamiliar and irregular aspect that he had never seen before and which made them seem totally strange: jamais vu.posted by tracicle at 9:21 PM on April 7, 2004
tracicle - reading that book right now. was going to mention it. also brings up presque vu - the feeling that you are almost (but not quite!) able to fully see and understand something - like being on the cusp of a major mental breakthrough only to have it slip through your fingers before you figure it out.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:45 AM on April 8, 2004
posted by caution live frogs at 6:45 AM on April 8, 2004
I would pay good money for this kind of experience.
LSD can have this effect, particular in the days following an LSD experience. All things seem new and different: you no longer accept that things are the same as they were yesterday. It's as if your visual filters have been reset to zero. You're no longer accustomed to seeing much of anything.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:03 AM on April 8, 2004
LSD can have this effect, particular in the days following an LSD experience. All things seem new and different: you no longer accept that things are the same as they were yesterday. It's as if your visual filters have been reset to zero. You're no longer accustomed to seeing much of anything.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:03 AM on April 8, 2004
LSD can have this effect, particular in the days following an LSD experience. All things seem new and different: you no longer accept that things are the same as they were yesterday.
I found a similar effect in the first week or two of Paxil. I was going, "Geez, look at this corn... it's so... yellow! Have you ever seen corn this yellow before?" Of course it was just regular corn.
posted by kindall at 8:40 AM on April 8, 2004
I found a similar effect in the first week or two of Paxil. I was going, "Geez, look at this corn... it's so... yellow! Have you ever seen corn this yellow before?" Of course it was just regular corn.
posted by kindall at 8:40 AM on April 8, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by John Shaft at 11:48 AM on April 7, 2004