Vu Deux Fois

You stop. Glancing back toward the scene, your mind begins to race. Have I been here before? Did I dream this? Are Agents coming to kill me?

Each of us has felt the eerie hue of precognition, which we call déjà vu. Apparently this phenomenon is caused by an error in the brain’s temporal lobe, the section that controls time. In the past, such an experience might have been considered supernatural or spiritual, but thanks to our friend, science, we can relax. There’s nothing supernatural going on; our brains are merely malfunctioning.

Déjà vu describes the sense that we have seen or experienced something in the recent past. The reason why it is such an interesting sensation is that we can never recall the details of the original experience, we just know that it happened. This vague memory unsettles us, causing a frantic inspection of our mind to find the original event. This search is what makes déjà vu so fun. If we found that a similar event occurred the day before, then the feeling would vanish. However, déjà vu is not the only incidence which incites suspicion of reality; there is another.

If déjà vu is a case of mistaken familiarity, what happens when that familiarity is legitimate? Vu deux fois describes a circumstance where we experience an event which we have already recently experienced. The sensation of vu deux fois is quite different from déjà vu, since the details of the original event are clearly recalled. Because of this, the mystery of vu deux fois is how two events which are so similar could occur together in such a short time frame. The event is often rare or odd, likely something we have never heard or thought of before, and it usually unfolds something like this:

‘Hey, Jamie.”

“Mark! How’s it going?”

“Pretty good, just got off work.”

“Hey, Mark, would you want to go see a wrestling match some time?”

“…what?”

“A wrestling ma….”

“No, I heard what you said, Jamie. Why do you want to see a wrestling match?”

“I don’t know, cuz it seems interesting?”

“Lies! Earlier today, Ben asked me if I would ever go to a wrestling match. This is some kind of trick!”

After interrogating his friend, Mark is left confounded by the coincidence. How could it be that two of his friends independently asked him about a wrestling match on the same day? Because both of the events are clearly remembered by Mark, his mind is now clouded by fear and doubt as his suspicion flourishes.

Of course, there is an explanation for these coincidences. That’s what makes vu deux fois so much more interesting than déjà vu. Maybe there’s a sprouting trend or government conspiracy. Perhaps a television commercial or billboard ad has cultured analogous ideas in two individuals without their knowledge. Advertisements can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.

Now if you just read this after experiencing your first vu deux fois, that would be a great vu deux fois.