Looking at your reflection, you see a second you. The features look the same. Your movements are in sync. And yet, is it really you? It takes us all a long time to both comprehend and accept that what we’re seeing isn’t another entity but actually ourselves. They’re just too close to true to question.
Looking at your reflection, you see a second you. There is no mirror. There is no glass, no metal, no embellishment. You touch it, but rather than leaving a lonely fingerprint, you feel the warm flesh of another human being. But it’s you? It’s not you. Who is this and why do you feel so close to them? Did the matrix break again?
The lore of the doppelganger and alternate personalities in your mirror image leading completely separate lives have been extensively considered by scholars and psychologists alike. But when one man decided to go for a swim in a pool, he never expected to see another him enjoying the warm day as well.
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Sean Douglas McArdle was taking a lovely swim in the pool of the Flamingo in Las Vegas when things took a turn for the weird
Image credits: Seandouglasmcardle
As little as we’d like to give credit to our image, how we look defines who we are to those who will create memories about us. Whether it be a passerby in the metro, a classmate, a family member - all their encounters stick to what you look like and the person you are. If you’re nice and polite, they might imagine your smile; if you’re nasty and rude, they might imagine you burning in a pit of hell.
But as much as others look at us, the person who looks at themselves the most is, well, themselves. Getting dressed, brushing your teeth, noticing reflections in the buildings as you’re walking to your favorite boulangerie, the puddle on the ground. Glad you brought your umbrella. And then you see yourself. But in 3D and moving unlike you’re used to, dressed similarly but different. You don’t own any pink bags.
He noticed strangers pointing and laughing, making Sean very uncomfortable. He then turned around to find himself looking at someone uncannily similar
Image credits: Know Your Meme
It’s enough for anyone to do a double take, start praying, or become a believer in the multiverse. If you’re superstitious like me, you’d probably think it’s a ghostly doppelganger - the creature of myth and legends - and then respectfully faint. Sean Douglas McArdle, however, decided to take some pictures and post them on Reddit.
The Eisner nominated comics creator, as well as college professor at Kent State University, was having a relaxing time at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. He was taking a refreshing dip in the pool when he noticed strangers laughing and pointing at him. Rude. This made Sean feel a bit awkward, as well as confused. He was your regular dude enjoying the sunshine - since when did he become the object of ridicule?
Well, since he doubled himself. As he turned around, he noticed his friends were laughing and pointing as well, but to someone else on the other end of the pool. Sean quickly understood what the commotion was about. That other person had an uncanny resemblance to Sean, right down to the horn-rimmed spectacles, blue swimming trunks and white caps they wore.
The two men looked at each other as if they were looking at a mirror. So much alike, Sean was completely convinced we’ve all been living in a simulation
Image credits: Seandouglasmcardle
It’s as if the matrix had glitched. “I wasn’t convinced until now… we are definitely in a simulation,” Sean wrote. Recalling the moment, he said: “I immediately thought, ‘holy s**t, that guy looks like the dude I see in the mirror!’ And my second thought was: ‘He looks cooler than me. Probably has real Clubmaster Ray Bans unlike my Zenni knock-offs.’”
The picture one observer took is intriguing to say the least. If they said they were brothers or even twins, it wouldn’t be questioned. Hope the FBI doesn’t catch on to it… Saying that, someone should double-check Area 51. There may be a little something missing.
“I immediately thought, ‘holy s**t, that guy looks like the dude I see in the mirror!’ And my second thought was: ‘He looks cooler than me,’” he wrote on Reddit
Sean shared this experience on a Reddit group “r/funny”, and the post has since received more than 96k upvotes, with many users commenting on the similarities, offering advice, or just making jokes on the common features he shares with a majority of people. One commenter said: “There are three of you guys at every brewery.”
Another commenter joked: “You’re not supposed to fight to the death when you see your doppelgänger?” Sean responded with the same amount of sass: “We did. He won. I’m dead.” So let’s dive a little into the lore of the doppelganger, literally “double-walker”, a biologically unrelated lookalike of a living person.
Sean also shared a picture taken of them both on r/funny, and it quickly went viral with over 96k upvotes
Image credits: seandouglasmcardle
Jen Boyle argues that the doppelganger was generally referred to as a bad omen or sign of death in fiction and mythology. Some say that the doppelganger was an attempt of the spirit to provide advice to the person they shadowed, while others say that they tried planting evil thoughts in their double’s mind in the hopes of confusing them. In modern times, the term is often used in a more general and neutral sense to describe any person who physically resembles another.
New research suggests that people who are “true” lookalikes have more similar genes than people who do not look like each other. Although not identical, the similarities are key to the resemblance of each other’s image.
“We were able to see that these look-alike humans, in fact, they are sharing several genetic variants. And these are very common among them,” Dr. Manel Esteller, a researcher at the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain, said. “So they share these genetic variants that are related in a way that they have the shape of the nose, the eye, the mouth, the lips, and even the bone structure. And this was the main conclusion that genetics puts them together.”
New research states that “there are so many people that eventually the system is producing humans with similar DNA sequences,” making doppelgangers more common
Among those with genetic similarities, many also had similar weights, similar lifestyle factors, and similar behavioral traits, like smoking and education levels. That could mean that genetic variation is related to physical appearance and also, potentially may influence some habits and behavior.
The most interesting bit in all of this is the fact that it’s based solely on random chance. “In the world right now, there are so many people that eventually the system is producing humans with similar DNA sequences,” Esteller said. This likely was always true, but now with the help of the internet and the ease of travel, they’re easier to find.
We wish Sean all the best and hope that he and his double get to have a strange yet endearing friendship going forward!
Image credits: seandouglasmcardle
Regardless of how much research there is to say that this is fairly normal, although uncommon, it will stay in the realm of the Twilight Zone and the uncanny valley. We spend enough time trying to sort out our own lives, we don’t need another one to deal with.
We hope that Sean and his new “twin” brother continue to keep in touch and that it leads to a long and fruitful friendship. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and I hope you never come across a ghostly figure resembling thyself at 3am.
Don’t forget to upvote and follow the author so that I can fund the cloning of myself and make twice the epic content! Kk, byebye!
People have been giving advice, as well as providing superb jokes for us all to chuckle at. Leave us your thoughts in the comments below!
