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She would claim to recognize details of restaurants she’d never been to, and occasionally greeted total strangers as if she’d met them before. To Pat, in such moments, the familiarity didn’t feel like déjà vu. It just felt like a memory. Like reality.
Take a moment to remember what happened during your day yesterday. Images and sounds begin to flash through your mind: people you spoke to, places you went, meals you ate. One scene cues up another, leading you on vivid tangents as you cycle through the day. Now ask yourself: how do you know that you are remembering those images as they happened, not altering or inventing them? The question sounds inane at first; you were there, after all. But what is it about those images that makes them authentic to you? Try inserting a completely false memory into your day, say that of running into a celebrity. You can picture it, sure, but it doesn’t feel real. Why not?