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I often see people or places which do not resemble anything I know in real life but I can feel instinctively that they are a specific person or place that I know. I suspect this probably happens to other people as well. Does this happen to you? What causes this?
I think I know what you mean. For example, I will be in my house. I know it is my house, but for some reason it looks like a crazy shopping mall/ playground combination. Or I will be with my girlfriend, I know she is my girlfriend, but she looks like a total stranger.
I wonder what causes this. I would assume it would be easier for your mind to pull up a familiar image, rather than create a new, unfamiliar one.
i recently dreamed that i was in a house that was my house but it looked different and was in a different place. i went out to the back and it had a big extension with extra rooms and i felt really happy and confused about why me and my house mates had never used this space before.
my dream analyst friend told me that this dream was actually telling me that i was making new space in my life for new things. the extension was symbolic of me extending myself to other people and things, and that it was a really positive dream. she said it didn't matter if the space wasn't familiar, the recognition of the place (or thing) as it's felt is the important part.
If you're talking about dreams and not real life (for a stupid moment I thought you were, and had a link to send you to!), I'd suspect that a lot of it has to do with dreams' tendency to symbolize things so that we won't take them too literally. If your best friend in a dream looks like your real best friend, then you'll assume that's who the dream means, your best friend. If your dream best friend looks like a total stranger, chances are 1. the dream wants you to notice something about your best friend which you wouldn't notice otherwise, or 2. the dream isn't telling you about your best friend at all.
If there's someone in a dream who in real life you know would be a stranger, but in the dream they're a friend, that might be a sign (MIGHT) that they're an unrecognized aspect of yourself (unfamiliar figures in dreams often are, seeing as we don't know them in real life). Likewise, in a dream we might be in a place that we feel is "home," though it might not resemble our real home whatsoever--perhaps the dream is hinting that there's something we need to notice in our environment, because if our dream home looked just like our real home, how much would we pay attention to it?
i recently dreamed that i was in a house that was my house but it looked different and was in a different place. i went out to the back and it had a big extension with extra rooms and i felt really happy and confused about why me and my house mates had never used this space before.
This frequently happens in my dreams; I've had a recent long series of dreams involving me in a place that's supposed to be my brother's home (looks nothing like it), and I keep finding more rooms toward the back, which I have to explore to find a mysterious old man. Hidden/unknown rooms in a home are a common theme. Again, they might symbolize unknown aspects of ourselves.
If you're talking about real life and not dreams, Google "deja vu" and follow the link to the Wikipedia article, then browse the "Types of deja vu" and "Related phenomena."
Same thing happens to me. In my most recent dream i picked up a gun and "knew" that it was filled with with snake venom. But also, in your dreams don't you always "know" whats going on even though you are in a completely nonsensical situation. Like at the start of the dream mentioned, I "knew" i was after a guy with laser green eyes, without wondering how he could have laser eyes. I think that your subconcious just lets you know whats going on because it's easier than you having to constantly ponder every little situation. Although if we did i spose everyone would have LDs.
I have to agree, this is a pretty common feature of many of my dreams. Once I was dreaming I was at my grandmother's house in her living room, but instead of the 8ft. picture window on one wall, there was a 50ft. high slope of stone blocks.
I think it's the part of your sub-conscious that provides labels for the world to the conscious mind. If we had to stop and consider stuff like: "What is this 4" long, ink-filled stick ... oh, it's a pen" we'd never get anything done! I think your mind picks up on some detail, some aspect of the dream-surrounding and decides it's 'close enough' to count as some particular, specific object/person/place.