MY BEST FRIEND IS COMING TO VISIT FOR THE ILLINOIS GAME!!!!
Sorry, I’m just really excited. I have a related and scientific point, I promise.
My best friend and I were born on the same day, exactly an hour, an inch, and a pound apart. We grew up together and we were inseparable. We always have had a gift for finishing each others’ sentences, knowing what the other is feeling, and knowing how to fix it. We can go months without seeing each other and still pick up right where we left off. With her visiting in less than two weeks (!!!!), I started wondering if any scientific studies had been done on twin telepathy. While the two of us are not biological twins, the concept has always fascinated me (plus, they talked about it on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody so it had to be legit, right?).
While researching the topic, I saw the author of this article mentioned that many scientists were hesitant to research the topic because, for one thing, it was so sporadic, but also because it’s sort of classified as “supernatural,” which, as Andrew said, scientists are usually hesitant to study. Admittedly, there is little scientific evidence to back up any sort of twin-telepathy. However, the stories that can be told are sometimes chill-worthy. This article mentions the life of the “Jim twins”; twins that were separated at 4 weeks old and lived nearly parallel lives to an almost frightening degree of detail.
According to an article on about.com, examples of ESP are more common in identical twins, while they are also highly noted between fraternal twins as well. Many people believe that twin telepathy is due to the time spent together in the womb, but if that were the case, fraternal twins should be just as apt to have telepathic moments as identical twins. So what could be the dependent factor? It could be the genetics or the way their brain is hardwired. It could be due to their zodiac signs, though not much science exists behind that either. It is something that is extremely difficult to conduct a controlled experiment to study.
There are many hypotheses as to how twin telepathy works, or if it’s all just psychosomatic. But, as for me and my best friend, well….
I have always been curious about the interactions between twins and have wondered what it would be like to have a twin.
Although I do not have a biological twin either, I have a best friend who is very similar to yours. We were born exactly a month apart on the same day, grew up on the same street, we have the same middle name, and like all of the same things from music to food. We met in preschool and have been friends ever since. We literally get separation anxiety when we’re away from each other. Now that we go to different colleges, we obviously don’t see each other as much but still talk almost everyday. The freaky part about it is that we know when each other is feeling down in the dumps or is just having an issue that they need to talk to someone about. I totally agree with you article in the sense that twin telepathy really exists! I haven’t done too much research about it in the past, but it has definitely crossed my mind. Reading this article, 10 Extraordinary Tales of Extraordinary Twins, it discusses 10 sets of twins and their interesting stories. The first story of Linda and Terry really caught my attention. They say they are psychic and knew the September 11th attacks were going to occur before they actually happened. Although they were wrong about a lot of other things, it still blows my mind how two people can have such a strong connection between each other and other things.
I am a fraternal twin and I actually did a blog post on this last blogging period! It depends because there are two different types of twins , DZ (di- zygotic) meaning two different zygptes / embroys and MZ twins (mono-zygotic) aka. identical twins. Even though MZ twins share 100% of their genetic makeup they are very different based on their environment. But the real kicker is that twins both MZ and DZ share a special bond when they are growing up because they spend so much time together in-utero and in the early stages of development.
I also agree that this is a very interesting topic, and I wish there were more empirical research studies on the subject. Still, as you mentioned on your post this is generally considered a “supernatural” kind of topic, and as mentioned in class, scientists try to stay away from that.
Since you are interested on the topic, here is a link to a study performed on a total of 224 twins that I found quite interesting.
EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES AMONGST TWINS: A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
I actually scrolled right by this but immediately went back when I saw you used a picture from Mean Girls. After reading your post, I’m glad that I went back. I always thought that the concept of twins was really interesting and I always thought it would be cool to have a set even though it’s double the work. I personally believe it does work for both fraternal and identical twins. My brother’s ex girlfriend had a twin brother and she told us that she didn’t speak for the first three years of her life because her brother always talked for her. I don’t know if that’s exactly the ‘twin telepathy’ but he always knew exactly what she was thinking and would answer everything for her the way she wanted without her having to tell him first. I think it’s different for you and your best friend, of course. You being able to finish each other’s sentences probably just has to do with the fact that you know each other so well. Going back to twins, here’s a video (not a very serious video, I might add) involving actual twins trying to test their telepathy abilities. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91x1_M1ucQM
Your blog caught my attention because I am a fraternal twin as my twin brother also attends here at University Park. I had to write a paper for English and turn it in. With being so busy I haven’t been able to talk to him in a week but the day I turned it in I asked my twin brother what he wrote about in his paper and it turned out we wrote about the same exact thing. We do sometimes say and think the same things but I think it is because we do have about 50% of the same genetics and that I think it is plausible that we could have similar “wired brains”. Though it would be very interesting to see if twin telepathy can be proven! Here is a study where they tried to see if twin telepathy occurs in identical twins, Richard and Barrett Powles. http://www.dprogram.com/twin_telepathy.html
I also find twin telepathy to be very interesting! However, I am unsure if your situation with your best friend falls under the same category. My best friend and I seem to finish each other’s sentences, or have the same song stuck in our heads at the same time, or say the same thing at once. I wonder if this is simply the result of being in each other’s presence so much and knowing each other really well, or if it could be something more, like you suggest.
As for biological identical twins, I have read about some amazing studies (such as the two Jim twins) and truly believe that there is some special bond between twins that allows them to have a sense for the other. Here is a link with some cool twin stories!
http://multiples.about.com/od/funfacts/tp/10-Amazing-Stories-Of-Twin-Telepathy.htm