How to Control a Doppelganger

Tales of people seeing ghostly doubles of themselves have been told throughout history. Doppelgangers were once believed to be harbingers of death, appearing to a person just before his demise. These days, some theorize that a doppelganger is evidence of the many worlds theory of quantum physics. Whatever a doppelganger is, there is no way to control one.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Look at your doppelganger. For many people, doppelgangers appear in their peripheral vision. If you can't turn and look directly at your doppelganger, especially if the doppelganger disappears when you turn toward it, you have probably misperceived a passing person or reflection of yourself.

2. Touch your doppelganger. If you can do this, your doppelganger is a real person and not an optical illusion.

3. Speak to your doppelganger. You may find that your doppelganger is a distant relative who looks like you through a coincidence of genetics. Your doppelganger may be a twin who was separated from you at birth.

4. Consider the possibility of a disorder. If others are telling you that you have a neurological disorder, you may be suffering from doppelganger syndrome, in which you believe a doppelganger of yourself exists. You may think that the doppelganger is living a separate life from you or that your doppelganger has stolen a part of your brain or personality.

5. Realize that memory, like perception, is fallible. You may be convinced you remember seeing a doppelganger, but you may have confused two events. If you've undergone hypnosis, you may have had a memory suggested to you and now can't tell that it isn't a real memory. If you've suffered from a bout of sleep paralysis, you may have experienced a hallucination.

6. Don't panic. Many people who relate tales of seeing their doppelgangers live for many years afterward. Seeing your doppelganger doesn't mean you're going to die, only that you've got a fascinating story to tell.