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Catalyst
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28 Nov 2006, 12:23 am

Does anyone else have a problem discerning identical twins apart?

In my extended family are a set of identical twins. Their personalities are not the same, and they wear their hair differently. I have finally gotten the personalities associated with the names, but I can never remember whether it's Rosa or Jenna that has the short hair.

The really irritating part is that these aren't just "twins that I know." These kids are family-- as in family that I cherish, as opposed to family that I endure-- and I always feel stupid that I can't remember which one I'm talking to now, or which one I was talking to last week. And when I remember last week, I can't even remember the hair.


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SteveK
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28 Nov 2006, 12:32 am

You can NOT judge by hair, especially not with females! I assume you are talking about monozygotic twins. EVERYONE has trouble telling them apart. Unless nutrition, growth, environment, marks differentiate them, you can have a HARD time, family or no.

BTW I wish I could be sure of the person, but there is a talkshow host that does paternity tests! Some ***************IDIOT************* decided that brother B was the father, because he claimed to be(the lie detector said he was lying), and figured she could have a DNA test. Well, they did a test. The host said BROTHER B? The test says you ***ARE*** the father! THEN, the host says BROTHER A? The tests says you ***ARE*** the father! All the people were like WHAT THE.......?????????!?!?!?!?!? THEN the host says "They are monozygotic! They BOTH have the SAME DNA, so a DNA test won't work!"

Frankly, I'm surprised they even tried!

Anyway, a lot of twins make it to adulthood and can STILL pass for the other. There was even a person here that killed her twin, and took over her life! She lived with her brother in law for quite some time before they figured it out.

Steve



Catalyst
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28 Nov 2006, 12:45 am

Normally, I can't remember squat on hair, but in this case one has very short hair and one has very long hair. THAT much I can keep straight. I can say to myself "Ah, this is the one with short hair." But I can't remember which one that is, nor will I even be able to remember later that I was talking to the one with short hair.

Once, one visited and spent a couple of nights. At some point while I was sleeping, her mom picked her up, and dropped off her sister, who also stayed a couple of nights. I was completely unaware of the change.


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hyperbolic
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28 Nov 2006, 1:05 am

Quote:
Does anyone else have a problem discerning identical twins apart?


Yes. And, at a distance, people who may be completely unrelated but looks similiar



Drakilor
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28 Nov 2006, 6:09 am

Most people manage to tell who's who (most of the time) if they put their minds to it and there is a difference such as the hair length. However, they get instantly confused when the difference change, like one of them get a hair cut. That's why telling them apart by a temporary feature is not reccomended in the long run.
Also don't be afraid to ask, they're probably used to it and would prefer that people were able tell the difference instead of staying quiet.



SteveK
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28 Nov 2006, 7:57 am

I'll tell you something. Aspies are known for being able to discern differences, if anything. I think the problem with faces is desire and distraction. After all, on the face test, EVERYONE scored well above any chance, even if most scored poorly.

SO, it follows, if you try, you SHOULD be able to notice a difference, if there is one. With Kate and ashley olsen, their personalities, style, and hieght are different. ALSO, one had a weight problem. I couldn't begin to tell you which ones which, but I DO remember that. Unless they WANT to look alike, they will look different in a discernable way. Being a feature of "dual star", they often want to look alike though, or at least DID.
They might be flipping hamburgers at mcdonalds now if they weren't monozygotic.

The movie industry basically can't use young children in movies or films, because the laws make shoots nearly impossible. Shooting only one child in a monozygotic pair means they can shoot twice as long, and it relieves the problem. THAT is why the olsens even had a CHANCE! LATER, when they didn't have such big restrictions, one of the kids got to play the others cousin!

I doubt anyone expects anyone to easily tell monozygotic twins apart.

Steve



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28 Nov 2006, 8:23 am

:lol: I have trouble telling people of the same height, weight, gender, and hair color apart. I used to go to a midwifery practice where both of the midwives were short, plump, and had died blond hair. I'll be damned if I know which one delivered my babies. :lol: I meticulously avoided calling either one by name at any point.



werbert
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29 Nov 2006, 12:57 am

I have a habit of avoiding calling anyone by name, unless I really need to. Of course, I also have a habit of avoiding talking to people, unless I really need to. Besides, the only identical twins I ever knew were my aunts, one of whom died when I was young, and the other one I hardly ever saw.


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TheMachine1
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29 Nov 2006, 1:09 am

I've known two sets of twins in my life and could easily tell them apart from their voices.



SteveK
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29 Nov 2006, 6:40 am

I have only known ONE pair of monozygotic twins that had distinctly different voices.

I should say that I have probably personally spoken with no less than 4 sets of monozygotic twins. Only ONE set could be identified by voice alone. I have also probably seen a dozen on TV!

Steve



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29 Nov 2006, 9:38 am

My friend has sisters who are identical twins. It used to be that the one with the longer name had the longer hair so that was easy to remember... now they've changed their hairstyles a bit and I've lost track of who's who. In most cases of identical twins (all cases?) one will be left-handed and the other right-handed, so maybe that would be helpful for you in telling them apart.



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29 Nov 2006, 4:28 pm

Also if I remember correctly when they stand next to each other they will have a favored side they always move to (such as sibling A is always to the left of sibling B if given a choice).

The same one will almost always stand/walk in front of the other as well in situations where its warranted.


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