In the 1970s, when great strides occurred in deciphering the functions of the kidneys, the heart, and the lungs, there was a widespread conviction that medical science would soon achieve a detailed understanding of the function of the greatest organ in the body – the brain. Nonetheless, several decades later, we still know very little about the brain’s functions and connections. Therefore it is safe to believe that the origins of several known but not well understood phenomena will remain, at least for some time, shrouded in the magical veil of the unexplored. Here are some of the ones you have probably come in touch with.
Déjà Vu (=already seen) – the sudden feeling that the current situation has already taken place, in the past – is probably the most common of all of them.
Déjà Vécu (=already lived) is similar to Déjà Vu, but it includes tremendous details, feelings, sounds, smells – and it feels just like reality. It feels like a premonition, because you are able to say what follows in the next moment.
Déjà Visité (already visited) or familiarity with a new place. The name implies that you recognise place you have never been in before. And despite that, you can say a lot about the place.
Presque Vu (=almost seen) – a situation that gives rise to the feeling that you know that you know something, but can´t remember it.
Jamais Vu (=never seen) is commonly considered the exact opposite to Déjà Vu, occurring when the familiar feels unfamiliar. In other words, you know that you should have known somebody or something, but cannot recall it. In an experiment in which people were asked to write the word “Door” 30 times in 60 seconds, followed by the feeling that the people tested were uncertain about the meaning of the word “Door”, the probable explanation of this phenomen was tiredness.
L’esprit de l’Escalier (=staircase wit) – the phenomen in which one comes up with the perfect, clever reply when the situation is no longer current.
Déjà Senti (=already felt) – the phenomen of getting into a feeling, usually triggered by someone else‘s voice or by reading about something which you are certain has already taken place, but you got distracted and now the event is finished. A feeling of satisfaction follows such incidents.
Bystander Effect – is a reason not to help to somebody when there are other people around. The possibility of getting help depends on the number of people in the vicinity and goes down with a higher number of people.
Pygmalion Effect – is the phenomen of attracting or fullfilling a destiny that is predicted for us. In other words, the person who thinks positive, gets a positive response, while the person who thinks negative will get negative results. If I think that I will score badly on a test, my effort will go down and the result will be as predicted.
Photos: Shutterstock
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