We've never met before, and yet we feel like we share a past. It's as if we were two who got up to all sorts of mischief in a previous life or a parallel universe. In friendship or love, there are strangers who seem almost more familiar than members of our own family. No, it's not a paranormal phenomenon, nor a sign of reincarnation; psychology has a more rational explanation.<\/p>\n
It's like a feeling of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. You've just met someone and know nothing about them, yet they seem so close. You share the same interests, the same passions, and you laugh at the same jokes, however childish they may be. It's quite simple: you're on the same page about everything and you feel a connection that even Bluetooth couldn't replicate. The chemistry happens spontaneously, whereas with others it takes years for it to develop. So much so that you start to believe in the concept of twin flames and alter egos.<\/p>\n
In just a few minutes of conversation, we're almost as close as childhood best friends. We find ourselves confiding in each other, even though we're usually quite guarded, and we drop our social masks without hesitation. Feeling so at ease with someone we've only known for ten minutes is particularly unsettling. We even wonder if it's a mirage, it seems so unreal.<\/p>\n
This closeness of mind, both fascinating and disconcerting, has been the subject of a study. Researchers at Dartmouth College have coined a term for this almost divine experience: \u201cneural synchronization.\u201d On paper, it sounds like a Black Mirror-esque concept, but in reality, it makes perfect sense. \u201cThese findings show that our brains literally tune in to the same frequency as those of people we are close to,\u201d as reported in Psychology Today<\/a> . It's enough that these people have shared similar experiences to bring our minds a little closer.<\/p>\n This curious feeling that transcends us and touches us deeply also depends on the empathy and emotional intelligence<\/a> of the person we're speaking to. No, it's not a twist of fate, simply the result of active listening and great emotional sensitivity. The other person responds immediately, as if they knew exactly what we wanted to hear. They almost seem to have telekinetic powers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a person responds in less than 250 milliseconds, it sends a connection signal perceived as natural and authentic, reinforcing the impression of being on the same wavelength as the other person,\u201d explains psychologist Claire Petin to Doctissimo<\/a> .<\/p>\n And in a self-centered world, these fluid, back-and-forth interactions are so rare that they seem justifiable only by mystical forces. This feeling of knowing each other forever wouldn't happen with a self-centered person, who only ever speaks of "I" and who turns every dialogue<\/a> into a monologue.<\/p>\n We often talk about intuition in these significant encounters. In reality, intuition is a form of ultra-fast analysis performed by our brain based on thousands of micro-signals: facial<\/a> expressions, posture, tone of voice, speech rhythm. We don't go through conscious reflection, but our brain compiles everything. When it determines that "it clicks," it sends us an overall feeling of rightness. Hence that famous "I don't know why, but I feel good with this person."<\/p>\n This feeling of having known each other forever and having shared countless adventures is, in fact, a unique and special human experience. It's not every day you meet people with whom you feel completely at ease from the very first moment. It remains an exceptionally rare instance of genuine connection. However, spontaneity is key to truly connecting with someone on the same wavelength.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this feeling of having always known each other and having a mirror in front of us isn't just an illusion. They say we all have between one and seven physical doppelgangers in the world, but we also have countless spiritual clones. So when we stumble upon that person with whom we're in perfect harmony, we make sure to keep them close. Enough to replay the scene from Barbie as the Princess and the Princess endlessly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We've never met before, and yet we feel like we share a past. It's as if we were...","protected":false},"author":8340,"featured_media":433860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_msn":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-433858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-societe"],"image":{"medium":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/impression-de-se-connaitre-depuis-toujours-200x113.jpg",200,113,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/impression-de-se-connaitre-depuis-toujours-500x281.jpg",500,281,true]},"custom":{"td_video":"","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/impression-de-se-connaitre-depuis-toujours.jpg","author":{"name":"\u00c9milie Laurent","avatar":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-2f5d8c00d5d5c27f8ce4d9b3f9015467-96x96.png"},"categories":[{"term_id":5678,"name":"Society","slug":"societe","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5846,"taxonomy":"category","description":" The Society section of The Body Optimist unpacks the debates that shape women\u2019s lives: equality, discrimination, beauty standards, social ties and the place of bodies in public space. Its analysis, first-person stories and practical advice are for anyone who wants to understand the pressures of everyday life and push back, with an inclusive, body-positive and judgment-free perspective.<\/p>\n Beauty standards are a social issue because they are neither natural nor universal: they shift from one country to another and from one era to the next, as our article on how beauty standards differ around the world<\/a> shows. Yet these ideals of thinness, youth and flawless skin have very real effects: comments starting in childhood, pressure to watch your weight, unequal treatment at work and in health care, online harassment. Recognizing that a norm is constructed helps you take a step back, spot the messages designed to make you feel guilty and choose what you want to keep. That is the common thread of this section: connecting individual experiences to the collective mechanisms that produce them.<\/p>\n If you experience discrimination or online harassment, the first step is to keep evidence, then to turn to the right people, who will depend on the country you live in:<\/p>\n Born from a plus-size fashion site, our magazine looks at social issues through the lens of the body and representation. We give a voice to the people most affected, we explain the words before debating them (sexism, fatphobia, trans identity, consent) and we favor practical ways forward over outrage alone. Our articles start from everyday experiences to shed light on broader patterns, without moralizing or pitting women against each other.<\/p>\n Discrimination is unequal treatment based on a characteristic protected by law, in a specific area such as employment, housing or access to goods and services. Protected grounds vary from country to country, but they often include sex, race or ethnic origin, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Some places also protect physical appearance or weight.<\/p>\n Intersectionality describes how several forms of discrimination can overlap in the same person and reinforce one another. The American legal scholar Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw coined the term to describe the experiences of Black women. A woman who is both fat and lesbian, for example, may face sexism, fatphobia and homophobia, which compound one another rather than simply adding up.<\/p>\n Diet culture is the set of beliefs that equates thinness with health, success and personal worth. It shows up in foods labeled \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad,\u201d compliments on weight loss and the shaming of fat bodies. Our magazine prefers a weight-inclusive approach to health, at every size.<\/p>\n Want to go further? Our Culture<\/a> section explores how bodies and identities are portrayed in movies, TV shows and books, and our Psychology<\/a> section supports you with self-image, confidence and emotions.<\/p>","parent":0,"count":1539,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5678,"category_count":1539,"category_description":" The Society section of The Body Optimist unpacks the debates that shape women\u2019s lives: equality, discrimination, beauty standards, social ties and the place of bodies in public space. Its analysis, first-person stories and practical advice are for anyone who wants to understand the pressures of everyday life and push back, with an inclusive, body-positive and judgment-free perspective.<\/p>\n Beauty standards are a social issue because they are neither natural nor universal: they shift from one country to another and from one era to the next, as our article on how beauty standards differ around the world<\/a> shows. Yet these ideals of thinness, youth and flawless skin have very real effects: comments starting in childhood, pressure to watch your weight, unequal treatment at work and in health care, online harassment. Recognizing that a norm is constructed helps you take a step back, spot the messages designed to make you feel guilty and choose what you want to keep. That is the common thread of this section: connecting individual experiences to the collective mechanisms that produce them.<\/p>\n If you experience discrimination or online harassment, the first step is to keep evidence, then to turn to the right people, who will depend on the country you live in:<\/p>\n Born from a plus-size fashion site, our magazine looks at social issues through the lens of the body and representation. We give a voice to the people most affected, we explain the words before debating them (sexism, fatphobia, trans identity, consent) and we favor practical ways forward over outrage alone. Our articles start from everyday experiences to shed light on broader patterns, without moralizing or pitting women against each other.<\/p>\n Discrimination is unequal treatment based on a characteristic protected by law, in a specific area such as employment, housing or access to goods and services. Protected grounds vary from country to country, but they often include sex, race or ethnic origin, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Some places also protect physical appearance or weight.<\/p>\n Intersectionality describes how several forms of discrimination can overlap in the same person and reinforce one another. The American legal scholar Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw coined the term to describe the experiences of Black women. A woman who is both fat and lesbian, for example, may face sexism, fatphobia and homophobia, which compound one another rather than simply adding up.<\/p>\n Diet culture is the set of beliefs that equates thinness with health, success and personal worth. It shows up in foods labeled \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad,\u201d compliments on weight loss and the shaming of fat bodies. Our magazine prefers a weight-inclusive approach to health, at every size.<\/p>\n Want to go further? Our Culture<\/a> section explores how bodies and identities are portrayed in movies, TV shows and books, and our Psychology<\/a> section supports you with self-image, confidence and emotions.<\/p>","cat_name":"Society","category_nicename":"societe","category_parent":0}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433858"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":433861,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433858\/revisions\/433861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} The emotional reactivity of the person you are speaking to also plays a role.<\/h2>\n
The role of intuition should not be underestimated<\/h2>\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Society section<\/h2>\n
\n
Why are beauty standards a social issue?<\/h2>\n
What can you do about discrimination or online harassment?<\/h2>\n
\n
Our approach: connecting the personal and the collective<\/h2>\n
Articles to start with<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What counts as discrimination?<\/h3>\n
What is intersectionality?<\/h3>\n
What is diet culture?<\/h3>\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Society section<\/h2>\n
\n
Why are beauty standards a social issue?<\/h2>\n
What can you do about discrimination or online harassment?<\/h2>\n
\n
Our approach: connecting the personal and the collective<\/h2>\n
Articles to start with<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What counts as discrimination?<\/h3>\n
What is intersectionality?<\/h3>\n
What is diet culture?<\/h3>\n