...Doppelganger...
After being queried about the actual definition of this word i followed some links in the google-webs and found a really interesting article from 2006 written in 'Nature News' about how scientists had managed to trick the brain into playing weird tricks on itself:
"Doctors treating the patient, a 22-year-old woman with epilepsy, found that when they stimulated a brain region called the left temporoparietal junction, the patient sensed the presence of a sinister figure behind her who copied her actions. They suspect that the effect is due to the mind projecting its own movements onto a phantom figure conjured up by the brain, an effect that is seen in some patients with serious psychiatric conditions."
Not to mention the creepy-ness of inserting electrodes into the brain! I like this idea. There was some more stuff on wikipedia (I know, I know its not a source!) about the idea of Doppelganger (the term itself borrowed from German - Doppel meaning Double and Ganger meaning Walker) as an omen of bad luck or when seen by others even as a harbinger of death!
But the term that really got me interested was this word being used to desribe that moment, that fleeting glimpse of someone/something that looks exactly like you out of the corner of your eye, in a situation where it is not possible for it to be a reflection. A sense of bi-location if you will. I have long been interested in this idea as i seem to have this feeling sometimes and it is always a creepy and sometimes un-nerving experience even if it over in a second. Enough to raise the hairs on your neck...
There is a lot of crap out there about celebrities and their "doppelganagers" and the facebook viral profile picture changing thing a while back. But im not interested in that schmuck that much. Although it is interesting to note it has become a commonly used word due to this need we seem to have to constantly compare ourselves to celebrities...
Thoughts/links/references would be choice...Bladerunner?
Image Search Results got me this far:
Check out the dude in the background and hit the photo for the story...this is the kind of thing i am interested in.
Interesting...photo is link...
Link to the facebook phenomenon. And the best image....
2 comments:
i named my first bong "the doppleganger"
i don't know if you've ever checked out my friend colby sempek's work/blog before. a lot of his stuff is about space/time/etc. but he works with his identical twin brother on a lot of collaborative projects. pretty interesting. i want to see how you present this idea visually. post stuff soon.
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