Thread: Deja Vu

My deja vu hypothesis involves the theory of parallel universes. This hypothesis uses the third form of parallel universes which states that their are an infinite number of replicates of our universe occupying the same space and time as our own universe. We cannot see them, however, due to the fact they are located in a different dimension. To proclaim that there are an infinite number of universes in the multiverse, we can safely assume that every possibly outcome has or will be concluded. For instance, in one dimension you aren't yet born, in another you are already dead, in another you are president of the United States, in another you have risen as a world leader and enslaved the world, in another the United States is a third-world country, etc.

Onto the actual hypothesis itself. I believe that when we experience deja vu, we are actually traveling into a separate, but almost identical, dimension and then so quickly traveling back into our own. This causes a moment to be lived "twice" giving the illusion that an individual has experienced the particular event in the past, yet at the same time. It's difficult to say what causes the entrance into another dimension, as it is only a hypothesis. It could be that the dimension temporarily overlapped our current dimension.

How would you go about falsifying this hypothesis experimentally?

By showing that you can't traverse universes, How else?

Parallel Universes are still a floating issue. They have not yet been proven (though physicists believe they are getting close), and they have also not been dis proven. If they are proven, then the next step would be to, yes, prove whether or not you can "traverse universes".

Originally Posted by Master Jake

Parallel Universes are still a floating issue. They have not yet been proven (though physicists believe they are getting close), and they have also not been dis proven. If they are proven, then the next step would be to, yes, prove whether or not you can "traverse universes".

That doesn't really answer my question. The existence of parallel universes can be taken as a given for your hypothesis. It is something that may be testable. So my question to you is how would you go about testing your hypothesis?

What are the implications of your idea? How can we fully and rigorously test it?

And perhaps most crucially, why ought we assume this hypothesis to be worthy of consideration when far simpler explanations exist for this phenomenon? Are there features of deja vu which are not explained by conventional explanations which are explained by your idea?

If your theory of deja vu is right, then I see two major flaws.

The first is that it would imply that all parallel dimensions are unstable, and will inevitably combine into a singular dimension. There could be catastrophic universe ending forces at work on that one.

The second is that time isn't constant. If all universes exist with the same laws of physics, then all of them are the exact same age. This means that you can't be going back or forward in time from the present by slipping into a parallel universe. That would imply that your deja vu is happening at the exact same time, which is exactly the opposite of deja vu.

Originally Posted by alienmindsinc

If your theory of deja vu is right, then I see two major flaws.

If a theory is right then how can it have flaws?

Since neuroscience already has developing theories, with actual empirical support, that suggest strongly that deja vu is explainable through brain activity entirely within the four known dimensions, it would seem a bit rash to say you believe in something based on several layers of speculation. Mr. Ockam would be rolling his eyes.

Originally Posted by Bunbury

Since neuroscience already has developing theories, with actual empirical support, that suggest strongly that deja vu is explainable through brain activity entirely within the four known dimensions, it would seem a bit rash to say you believe in something based on several layers of speculation. Mr. Ockam would be rolling his eyes.

My point exactly. Without testability coupled with some feature which gives greater explanatory or predictive power to this idea over competing ones, what we actually have is basically conjecture, and not very useful conjecture at that.

Easy guys, it was just an idea. I'm not saying it's true.

Originally Posted by Bunbury

Since neuroscience already has developing theories, with actual empirical support, that suggest strongly that deja vu is explainable through brain activity entirely within the four known dimensions, it would seem a bit rash to say you believe in something based on several layers of speculation. Mr. Ockam would be rolling his eyes.

Your post is right on the mark. 'Deja vu' is prevalent when there is disorders in the brain that lead to various types of seizures, epilepsy, strokes, etc. Mention an increase in deja vu incidences and a neurologists will send you for and EEG and MIR of your brain. Everyone gets a few spells of deja vu now and then but more than a few is not a good thing.

Originally Posted by Master Jake

Easy guys, it was just an idea. I'm not saying it's true.

It was an hypothesis you proposed. Hypotheses get tested and are either supported or refuted. I mean, even if it's just conjecture you're always going to have people who will try to refute you. If this wasn't what you were up for why did you post this in the first place?

Besides, you said "I believe..." which rather strongly suggests you believe your hypothesis to be true. If you're now withdrawing the hypothesis then that's all fine with me, but please don't try to make out like we're being unreasonable by asking a few very simple questions.

We're just trying to save you from wandering farther down the path of "faith" which is belief without evidence. There's a lot of it about, and it isn't science. 8)