Ever had that weird feeling where you think, “I’ve definitely had this exact thought before”? I call it logic deja vu. Happened to me just last Thursday while fixing my bike chain. Felt like I’d solved this stupid squeak in the exact same way before – even though it’s a new bike! So I dug into why our brains pull this crap.
First thing I did? Grabbed a notepad and started tracking every time I felt logic deja vu. Seriously, carried that thing everywhere for a week. Coffee shop, grocery store, even during my kid’s soccer practice. Just scribbled down:
- What I was thinking when it hit
- Where I was
- How tired I felt
After 27 entries (yes, I counted), patterns popped up. Four times it happened while sleep-deprived after late-night coding. Six times when stressing about money. That’s when I remembered reading about brain shortcuts. Our lazy minds recycle old thoughts instead of making new pathways when tired or stressed.
Then came my kitchen experiment. Made pancakes – same recipe I’ve used for years – but deliberately messed up the steps. Skipped mixing dry ingredients first, dumped everything together. Halfway through stirring, BAM. Logic deja vu punched me in the face. Realized familiar routines trick our brains into misfiring “memory” signals. Routine = prime setup for phantom logic memories.
Third trigger found me in traffic. Some guy cut me off same way last month’s jerk did. Felt identical rage-logic: “Should’ve taken Main Street instead!” Except… that collision was three years ago, not last month. Our dumb brains compress similar emotional events like a messed-up zip file. Anger, fear, joy – strong feelings glue fake logic memories together.
Almost quit when I caught myself doing it during poker night. Friend bluffed with the same eyebrow twitch as last game. I snapped, “Knew you’d do that!” …except he hadn’t. My subconscious predictions had dressed up as memories. Brains are creepy liars sometimes.
Final “aha” moment? Reading news about climate change. Got dizzy logic deja vu from arguments I swore I’d rehearsed before. Nope – just heard similar stats on a podcast earlier that morning. Brains latch onto patterns like starving raccoons, even when patterns aren’t really there.
So here’s my kitchen-table conclusion for why logic deja vu hits:
- Tired/stressed brains recycle thoughts (my pancake disaster)
- Routines create false familiarity (my chain-squeak deja vu)
- Emotions smash memories together (road rage flashbacks)
- Predictions disguise as memories (poker night mind-trick)
- Pattern recognition goes berserk (climate stats déjà-vu)
Next time your brain claims it’s “already solved this,” tell it to shut up and make some coffee instead. Works for me.
