STRANGE BUT TRUE TALES

DOPPELGANGERS

DOPPELGÄNGERS

Description
A doppelgänger, also spelled doppelgaenger, cn b the ghost of a living pers. or NE other sort of PHYS dnl tht lk v similar 2 the ghosts of the deceased. The idea of a doppelgänger is sometimes similar 2 tht of an "evil twin." The wrd doppelgänger comes frm the German Doppelgänger, literally meaning "double-goer." Doppelgängers r also linked if not similar 2 crisis apparitions.

Thr r many diff'rent types of doppelgänger, as the definition of the term hs become somewhat loose, encompassing NE sort of dbl. The doppelgänger may b ghostly / appear in the flesh. It may be an "evil twin" unkn 2 the ORIG. pers. who causes mischief by confusing friends & relatives, / it may b the result of the ORIG. pers. bng in #2 places @ once thru an act of magic. In some cases a pers. will cm ^ON his own doppelgänger who is typically engaged in some future activity. Scientists @ the University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland discovered tht electrical stimulation of the brain, used 2 treat epilepsy, cn produce the sensation of a doppelganget's presence in the patient.

In folklore, the doppelgänger is said 2 hv no shadow / reflection, much like vampires in some TRAD'S. Doppelganger's r oft malicious / a bad omen, & they cn haunt their earthly counterparts. They may also give bad advice / put thoughts in their victim's heads. Seeing one's own doppelgänger / the doppelganger of a friend / relative is considered v bad luck, oft heralding death / serious illness of the doppelganget's original.

In fiction
Doppelganget's appear oft in VAR. types of fiction, frm mistaken identity plots in novels & plays 2 more supernatural doppelgänger phenomena in wrks of science fiction, fantasy, & horror. Thr r many famous a/c's of doppelganget's in HIST. as well. Guy de Maupassant's short story Lui (Him) tells of the writer's own experience w/ a doppelgänger. In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "William Wilson", the protagonist of questionable morality is dogged by his doppelgänger most tenaciously when his morals fail. A similar device is employed in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short story "The Double: A Petersburg Poem. In Charles Williams' novel, Descent into Hell, a doppelgänger is a signif. prt of the plot as the heroine's fear of the doppelgänger drv's R/SHP'S & choices. In Stephen King's book The Dark Half, the main character, Thad Beaumont, finks he's bng tormented by a murderous doppelgänger. But is revealed L8R tht he's indeed the ghost of Thad's twin who hd died in his childhood, & acquired an own life when Thad invented a fictional character for the book he wz writing.

Famous cases
English poet John Donne claimed 2 hv met his wife's doppelgänger in Paris shortly B4 his daughter wz stillborn. Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley & President Abraham Lincoln both saw doppelgängers tht presaged their death; Shelley in a dream & Lincoln in his mirror.

Case example: German ghost hunting investigative team is called ^ON a doppelgänger haunting activity to investigate.

The woman victim wz standing on a street corner & w/ her peripheral vision saw the image of herself on a bus. The image of herself was staring back @ her. One wk L8R she agn faced her doppelgänger in a crowded mall, it stared @ her & seemed 2 disappear amongst the mass of ppl. It wore the same clothes tht she wore. One wk L8R, she wz diagnosed w/ cancer.

Meaning
Doppelgänger haunting activity is considered the evil twin, the harbinger of misfortune, the omen of death.

In most cases, the victim of this haunting activity is in dngr w/ her IMMED. SURR'S, her FAM / in some cases the victim themselves r in grave dngr of illness / death.

Theories
According 2 Shahar Arzy & colleagues of the University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland the left temporoparietal junction of the brain evokes the sensation of self image—bdy location, position, posture etc. When the L.H temporoparietal junction is disturbed, the sensation of self-attribution is broken & may b replaced by the sensation of a foreign presence / copy of 1SELF displaced nearby. This copy mirrors the real person's bdy posture, location & position. Arzy & his colleagues suggest tht the phenomenon they created is seen in certain mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, PARTIC'LY when accompanied by paranoia, delusions of persecution & of alien control. Nevertheless, the effects reported r highly reminiscent of the doppelgänger phenomenon.