Go to TikTok and you will surely come across the challenge trend “Twin Telepathy”. Usually in such videos, siblings perform different commands without seeing each other, and they do the same thing.
ContentTwin Telepathy: Is it true that they read each other's minds? Is there scientific evidence of twin telepathy?Twin Telepathy: Possible Explanations
WomanEL was interested in this question. Why do some twins say that they feel when their brother/sister is physically in pain? Can they read each other's minds? Is it real?
Twin telepathy: is it true that they read each other's minds?
Twin telepathy is largely a myth, says psychology professor Nancy Segal. Dr. Segal says many of the twins she has spoken to have never experienced any telepathy. Those who believe they do have a real telepathic connection are likely ignoring the instances when their “sixth sense” was not accurate.
In addition, the stories can be at odds with the reality of the event. “The problem with telepathy is that we learn about these coincidences after the fact. And so the stories are embellished,” says Dr. Segal.
Psychologist Tammy Chamoun has also heard exaggerated accounts of twins having a strong emotional or physical connection. “Twins have a sense of 'something is wrong' when they are in a crisis situation. Or they're just so in sync that they seem to finish each other's sentences. Or they discover that they are doing similar things, although they are in different places,” says Shamun.
“At the same time, similar synchronous experiences are noticed in siblings who are not twins, as well as in close friends.”
Is there scientific evidence for twin telepathy?
There is no reason to believe that twin telepathy exists, Source: freepik.com
Overall, there is no scientific evidence for twin telepathy. “Despite the many claims, scientific research has failed to confirm the existence of twin telepathy,” says Shamoon. “Studies that have attempted to replicate this experience under controlled conditions have yielded mixed results. And many have failed to demonstrate any statistically significant evidence of telepathic communication between twins.”
One of the challenges in studying twin telepathy is how difficult it is to define and measure. “Telepathy, by its traditional definition, refers to communication beyond the known senses, which presents a significant obstacle to empirical research,” says Shamoon. “Without a clear framework for testing telepathic abilities, researchers face difficulties in designing experiments that can effectively capture and confirm such phenomena.” However, as Dr. Segal notes, identical twins may perform better on some telepathy tasks. This may be because identical twins are an exact genetic match.“We found that telepathy-like events occur more often with identical twins than with fraternal twins,” says Dr. Segal. “I mean, they can come to the same decision independently of each other. Or choose the same outfit independently of each other, or finish each other’s sentences independently of each other.”
Studies show that identical twins tend to have similar personality traits, behaviors, expressive social behaviors, and interests, even if they are raised separately. Studies also show that identical twins have more similarities in decision-making styles than fraternal twins.
“We know from many, many studies of twins that intelligence, personality, and information processing have partial genetic components,” says Dr. Segal. “Identical twins share all of their genes, whereas fraternal twins share, on average, only half. So identical twins are much more likely to react to things in the same way. And I think that’s the best explanation.”
Twin telepathy: possible explanations
Scientists may dismiss the idea of a “magical” connection between twins. But some researchers have proposed scientifically sound explanations for the phenomenon. Rather than calling it telepathy, some experts call such phenomena “mirroring” or “modeling.”
Similar to Dr. Segal’s argument that genetic influences play a large role in these so-called moments of telepathy, this approach suggests that people may unconsciously pick up on many of their twin’s traits, often mimicking them. These signals allow them to better understand what the other person is feeling or experiencing.
It is also believed that such cases are signs of a deep emotional connection, which generates an intense sense of empathy, strong enough to cause physical sensations, such as feeling pain when the twin is in pain.
Twins can also know each other so well that they can predict how their twin will speak or behave. As mentioned above, this phenomenon can also be observed between twins who are not in a close relationship, such as a couple who have been married for many years.
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