I'd Like To Conduct A Study - Younger Members Needed

I have reasons to believe that our DNA records every moment of our existence, not just our traits, but our actual memories and sensations just the way we experience them. This is hardly a new concept, but I believe I've come up with a way to test this hypothesis that doesn't require a state of the art laboratory or any funding at all. In fact, if this theory holds water, we're going to be killing two birds with one stone.

So let's say I'm right, and our DNA is recording everything. If that's the case, then when someone conceives a child, their memories up until that point are stored in that child's DNA. We can visualize this as a file or program that plays like background music as the child grows. If you conceived a child when you were 17 years and 18 days old, then your file will run in your child's DNA until they turn 17 years and 18 days old. Then it stops, triggering a phenomenon we commonly refer to as DejaVu.

I know it sounds silly, but consider this... deja vu usually occurs in people between the ages of 15 and 25. Interestingly enough, so does parenthood.

So what I'm proposing is that each of us contains such a file on every one of our ancestors that starts playing the moment we're conceived. Then as those files expire one by one, we experience deja vu every time.

In order to test this, all we need are people who haven't yet reached the age of either of their parents when they were conceived. If my hypothesis is true, then they should be able to accurately predict when they will have deja vu. Maybe your grandmother didn't conceive your mother until she was 40, then your mother would have deja vu at 40, and so will you.

So what say you ATS... any takers?

Okay, I am a little too old to be a subject but I do have a few questions for you. Keep in mind that when you say the DNA recordings are playing back, I will be assuming that they are somehow influencing the child as he/she grows. So, on to the questions:

1) If the DNA is a mix of the parents DNA then what is playing back, is it fragments from each parent at various times or is there a predominant one that gets its say all of the time?

2) Do you feel that the playback is selective in that the experiences played back at any given time are in response to a real-time external trigger or situation? e.g, Maybe the child is faced with a challenging task and somehow memory unlocks a "file" that reflects one of the parents experiences and applies it to the logic processing unit of the brain to integrate with the know task parameters and develop a plan to complete said task.

3)Failing #1 & #2, if there is a possibility that this recording is simply playing back, what would be the purpose as practically everything to experience in the child's life is not going to progress at the same time as the original recording, it would be too out of sync when dealing with newer technologies, social practices, even school curriculum. So what good does it do?

4) If there is a predominate file running in the background does this make the child identify more feminine or more masculine depending on the source?

That's all I have for now.

reply to post by Bone75


Your theory is busted. I experienced Deja Vu as a child. Are you implying my mother conceived me when she was 6 years old?

reply to post by Bone75


I'm sorry, I don't understand this test at all. First, it doesn't seem to resemble scientific testing in the slightest. I have deja vu all the time and it's usually triggered by visual cues.

I haven't reached the age of my parents when they conceived me; I don't even know when their parents conceived them..great grandparents etc. Does anybody really have access to that kind of information regarding lineage?

I do find the theory regarding DNA and memory intriguing, but I don't see the connection to deja vu or how this "test" proves anything about anything.

Deja vu is the sense that a unique moment has been experienced already and that you're reliving it. I don't see my ancestors having memories of certain things that have given me deja vu. For example, one time I had deja vu in a supermarket looking at some junk food. I don't think my ancestors knew what junk food aisles were all about.

Is that what you're trying to say? That deja vu is ancestral memories? If not, then I don't know what you mean by this "file system" being deleted producing a deja vu effect.

Good luck anyway.

reply to post by Bone75


I've had experiences of deja vu for as long as I can remember....since I was at least 4.

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
reply to post by Bone75

 

Your theory is busted. I experienced Deja Vu as a child. Are you implying my mother conceived me when she was 6 years old?

The point is to find out if there's a correlation. Your experience could easily be explained by a file with errors(like when I download a song and only half of it plays), and it doesn't have to be your mother's file, it could be any one of your ancestors.

reply to post by Bone75

Dear Bone75,

High praise for your imaginative experience. But I didn't get the title Mr. Confusion for nothing. I'm probably misunderstanding, but you seem to be saying that if the correlation doesn't work out, it could be a flaw in the DNA, or the memory of one of thousands of ancestors.

With those qualifications, how could we ever know if the hypothesis is false? It seems that every time it doesn't work, there is an explanation. So, if we can't possibly prove it's false, how can we ever say it's true?

With respect,
Charles1952

reply to post by Bone75


Not to be antagonistic, but your theory is bunk (in regards to deja vu). What I think you should do is disassociate from the deja vu aspect, and concentrate more on your ideas concerning DNA (since there is actual science to back up the latter). We know from observing animals in nature that learned behaviors can be passed on to offspring despite those behaviors never being "taught" to said offspring. That sort of thing coincides nicely with your thoughts on DNA, and doesn't cross into the realm of weirdness by including outlandish theories on deja vu.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that your thoughts on DNA are within the realm of possibility and you could better speculate on your theory by making more provable observations.

Originally posted by charles1952
reply to post by Bone75

 

Dear Bone75,

High praise for your imaginative experience. But I didn't get the title Mr. Confusion for nothing. I'm probably misunderstanding, but you seem to be saying that if the correlation doesn't work out, it could be a flaw in the DNA, or the memory of one of thousands of ancestors.

With those qualifications, how could we ever know if the hypothesis is false? It seems that every time it doesn't work, there is an explanation. So, if we can't possibly prove it's false, how can we ever say it's true?

With respect,
Charles1952

Good point Charles, aren't you supposed to be in bed by now

I think it would make sense to see if there is a correlation to begin with before trying to explain why there isn't. If I'm right, the results should show a high rate of accuracy in predicting deja vu. If I'm wrong, the results should be all over the place. Of course, the more information we have the better. Anyone can easily obtain the birth dates of all of there ancestors for at least a few generations with today's technology, but details such as length of pregnancy and the date of conception will obviously factor into that as well.

reply to post by Bone75

Dear Bone75,

You're absolutely correct, twice. I should be in bed, have you got any volunteers for me?

But more importantly, you're right that there is nothing wrong with trying to find data, accepting it all, then seeing what hypothesis fits it. I shouldn't have sounded critical (I think I did). But, man, this is going to be hard data to collect. My parents were reluctant to admit that I ever was conceived, and I would never have the courage to ask them when. I really wish you well.

With respect,
Charles1952

Originally posted by charles1952
But more importantly, you're right that there is nothing wrong with trying to find data, accepting it all, then seeing what hypothesis fits it.

Actually there can be problems with that approach, if you are talking about scientific work.

That's a summary of why the so-called "bible code" was thought to have significance by a mathematician, when other more statistically savvy researchers set up the experiment so the hypothesis is clearly defined in advance of collecting the data, in which case the code then appeared to be non-existent. It was the flawed approach of collecting data and then trying to fit it to a hypothesis that caused the false positive result of statistical significance. The type of work described in the OP might have the same problem. Good science requires a careful approach.

reply to post by Bone75


What happens when the mother is 18 and the father is 48?

Which age do you pick?

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
reply to post by Bone75

 

What happens when the mother is 18 and the father is 48?

Which age do you pick?

edit on 7/19/2013 by Chrisfishenstein because: (no reason given)

Both. You should have deja vu when you're 18 and 48.

Originally posted by NarcolepticBuddha
reply to post by Bone75

 

I'm sorry, I don't understand this test at all. First, it doesn't seem to resemble scientific testing in the slightest. I have deja vu all the time and it's usually triggered by visual cues.

I haven't reached the age of my parents when they conceived me; I don't even know when their parents conceived them..great grandparents etc. Does anybody really have access to that kind of information regarding lineage?

I do find the theory regarding DNA and memory intriguing, but I don't see the connection to deja vu or how this "test" proves anything about anything.

Deja vu is the sense that a unique moment has been experienced already and that you're reliving it. I don't see my ancestors having memories of certain things that have given me deja vu. For example, one time I had deja vu in a supermarket looking at some junk food. I don't think my ancestors knew what junk food aisles were all about.

Is that what you're trying to say? That deja vu is ancestral memories? If not, then I don't know what you mean by this "file system" being deleted producing a deja vu effect.

Good luck anyway.

If you haven't reached the age of either of your parents when they conceived you, then you'd make a promising candidate . All you really need to know is what your due date was. From there you can calculate to within a couple of weeks when you should have deja vu from both parents.

It won't kill you I promise.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


Dear Arbitrageur,

I wouldn't dream of arguing with you. (Largely because you're right) But I wonder if there aren't a couple of characteristics that might make the "vacuum it all in and figure it out later" approach a little more acceptable here.

One, I get the feeling that Bone75 isn't entirely clear what his hypothesis is. It might have something to do with your Mother's DNA, or somebody else's, or who knows what.

Two,, in this situation we are able to check the predictive power of his hypothesis. He looks at a bunch of data, decides on a rule, then we can test the rule with new data.

Besides, I have no idea how you'd design a truly scientific test for this stuff. When you get fringe theories, sometimes, at the beginning, the tests are going to be fringe.

With respect,
Charles1952

I am currently the age my mother was when she had me. I haven't had deja vu for at least 3 years, but many times in the past. I know the source of my deja vu. Dreams. I have excellent dream recall and every time I experience deja vu, I think back for a moment and then a light clicks on and I remember when I dreamed it before it happened.