What is 'deja vu' exactly, and what explanations are out there that account for why people experience it?

The deja-vu phenomenen is just that: a strange but by no means rare occurrence in which a person has a sensation of having been in a particular situation before. The English poet Tennyson expressed the idea beautifully in 'Locksley Hall' when he spoke of a feeling that reminded him 'of something done, of something shared, of something said, I know not where, such as no mortal can declare' (or words to that effect.) Informed explanations vary, ranging from the supernatural to denial. In my opinion, the most logical is that in some situations our brains process information so rapidly that we get the feeling that we have been through or in this situation before, when in fact, what we heard or saw or experienced happened just nano-seconds before.

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Excellent description and answer!
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by Andy Is Wicked Married to Penal Colony on July 24th, 2004
Correct. When it happens to me I relish it and then I remember to slow down.
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by andywho on November 23rd, 2005
Yes. Whats weird though, is that today in math class, I experienced deja vu from something that happened a week ago.
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by lemonamanda on December 22nd, 2005
I'm getting the feeling that I've heard this question and answer before...
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by ptrask on April 17th, 2006

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What can you say about the term “deja vu”? The term “déjà vu” (IPA:/deʒa vy/) (French for “already seen”, also called paramnesia) describes the experience of feeling that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously.

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What is 'deja vu' exactly, and what explanations are out there that account for why people experience it?

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