Zhamaisu: the opposite of deja vu, which you’ve probably experienced at some point.

We’ve experienced everything Deja vu. That is, that feeling in which suddenly something that we supposedly see or do for the first time seems familiar to us. Much has been said about this phenomenon. However, its opposite, Jamais Wumuch less known, although we experience it too often.

Its main researchers needed to win a mock prize – the Ig Nobel Prize – in order for people to start talking about it. Jamais Wu. In particular, these scientists won literary prize, since words were involved in the investigation. Although in fact they are trying to understand the neuropsychological processes by which Jamais Wu.

Be that as it may, one thing is clear: even if it is a joke prize, Shnobelevsky gave them the impetus they needed to make known a phenomenon that, if studied well, could even help to understand something as common as obsessive-compulsive disorder.

What Jamais Wu?

He Jamais Wu This is a phenomenon whereby something very familiar suddenly becomes it seems strange to us. Contrary to Deja vu. For example, this happens when we write a very common word, but we feel like we wrote this for the first time. There have also been cases where people who were driving suddenly had to stop because they did not know how to use each pedal in the car. In fact, one of the authors of this study admits in an article for Talk what happened to him. It may also happen that we are on a well-known street and suddenly get lost. And if there are professionals who know this well, then they musiciansfor most of them have at some point experienced the feeling of playing something they knew, note for note, and suddenly losing consciousness and not knowing what would happen next.

First of all, these scientists saw what was happening when a word is written many times. They experienced this themselves during school punishments. And by examining the scientific literature, they saw that the psychologist, Margaret Floy Washburn, described it at the beginning of the 20th century. She described it as a loss of associative strength when looking at a word for three minutes. But they seemed to experience the same thing.

Ig Nobel experiment

To study Jamais Wu, these scientists designed a very simple experiment. They took part in this 94 undergraduate studentswho were asked to write the same word over and over without stopping. Both very simple words and more complex ones were used, all in English, a language with which the participants were more than familiar.

They had to write without rest, except for three reasons. That their arm is tired, that they feel strange, or that they are bored. They all stopped at some point for one of these reasons, and the most curious thing is that 70% stopped at least once for feeling the words were strange. That is, they felt Jamais Wu.

This happened with all types of words, but especially with the most common and not too numerous repetitions. The average is about 33.

After this first part, the experiment was repeated with the word That (Article He or That in English). It was chosen because it is considered one of the most common. But despite it being so common, 55% stopped writing for a while. Jamais Wuon average only 27 reps.

The experiences described by the students were very interesting because they felt strange, but for very different reasons. For example, one noted that “words lose their meaning the more you look at them.” And again: “It doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t seem like it’s really a word, but someone tricked me into thinking it was.”

Why the opposite Deja vu?

In addition to simple curiosity, these scientists conducted research Jamais Wu try to understand this more deeply and apply it to field of psychology.

For now, his main hypothesis about the origins of this phenomenon is based on the brain’s need to test reality. They also explain this in Talk. “Our cognitive systems “They need to remain flexible, allowing us to direct our attention where it is needed, rather than getting lost too long in repetitive tasks.” Therefore, when we are lost, the brain sends us a signal. wake up call so that we can see whether it is necessary to continue to be detained there.

This indicates that Jamais Wu It’s necessary. This can be problematic if it happens while driving, like the study’s author, but this is the exception. What is true, however, is that, as with other evolutionarily beneficial mental phenomena such as anxiety, when taken to extremes it does become a problem. In this case, it may provoke obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Let’s imagine a person running to check whether he has turned off the gas. She has to check it over and over again because she’s not sure. And when she does this so many times, there comes a point when she feels strange doing it. It’s like I’ve never done this. This creates more confusion, so you need to check it again, and a vicious circle arises, the cognitive processes of which must be understood very well in order to find a solution.

Therefore, for these scientists, the Ig Nobel Prize was a blessing. Because now there are more people who know Jamais Wu and they understand the need to study it. And this could be very useful for the future. He who laughs last laughs best.