Hitting the Headlines, Already Seen, Chicanery Alert & See This!

Already Seen

As you walk into a new restaurant to meet friends, you suddenly have this strange feeling that you have been there before. Chances are that you have experienced this feeling known as déjà vu; where the unfamiliar mistakenly seems familiar. Déjà vu is a French expression meaning “already seen” that was first used by the French scientist and philosopher Emile Boirac to describe this strange phenomenon in 1876.

What causes déjà vu? Many scientists think that déjà vu occurs when the part of the brain that makes recognizes familiar situations is triggered in error. Studying déjà vu is difficult because it occurs spontaneously and quickly goes away. In addition, research has yet to identify stimuluses that will trigger a déjà vu experience, adding to the difficulty in understanding its cause.

Déjà vu is commonly used to describe situations that occur over and over again. Such events can also be aptly described as “Groundhog Day”’ – as in the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray. In the movie, Phil, a weatherman, is stuck in a time loop reliving Groundhog Day over and over again.

Current political and healthcare debates have that déjà, Groundhog Day feeling. Once again, a federal government shutdown looms due to the lack of a budget deal. As the latest covid vaccines hit the pharmacies, new vaccine misinformation is making the rounds on social media. The 1970s war on drug abuse continues as overdose deaths from today’s more powerful drugs climb. The US healthcare system’s decades long problems such as costs, quality of care and access are ever present. Somedays it seems like everyday is Groundhog Day.