Why are we not alike? And these guys, it turns out, even have the same birthday, coincidence

29 March 2017, 18:01

I read an interesting article by Natalia Radulova: “I look at you like in a mirror.”

In it she talks about how people often fall in love with those who are similar to them in appearance, i.e. they have the same shape of chin, nose, eyelids, lips, etc. - of course, adjusted for gender differences. Many couples are like brother and sister. With age, people can gain weight and develop wrinkles, but the main features remain the same, so they are comfortable with each other. In this article I provide an abbreviated retelling of that article and comments on it, followed by my thoughts on this matter and several additional photographs.

“Recently, an experiment was conducted at one of the bourgeois universities: the subjects were shown photographs different people and asked to choose the cutest one. Among all these photographs there was a photograph of the subject himself, but altered - a woman was turned into a man with the help of light computer graphics, and vice versa. Well, let’s say they added a bit of masculinity to a girl, an Adam’s apple, a goatee, and weighted her features. But in general, the face and the features of its structure did not change. And guess which picture the experiment participants chose? Who did the person call the most beautiful? Naturally, yourself. Camouflaged, but yourself.”
“In 2009, scientists from the University of St. Andrews conducted a study and found that women tend to choose men similar to themselves. Scientists from the University of Liverpool also made a similar conclusion in 2006.”

Moreover, the same thing is observed in couples with a significant difference in the partners’ ages:

“And dogs don’t become like their owners over time. They are initially similar. The owner chooses. Best friends or companions may be of different heights, weights and ages, but most likely there will be something in common about their face. Because we are comfortable with those who seem to be our second self, at least externally.” - I don’t completely agree with this, the main thing for a pet is its character, which over time really adapts to the owners (and they to it).

“And New Yorker, writer Christina Bloom, even launched a dating site for people looking for a partner who looks like themselves. In a conversation with QMI Agency, the author of the idea said that she decided to open such a site after she divorced her husband and fell in love with a man who turned out to be similar to her. Bloom admitted that at first she did not notice that she and her new chosen one were similar. However, then friends increasingly began to point out her external resemblance to her lover. After that, she became interested in the question of the dependence of happiness in her personal life on the external similarity of partners and began to look for couples consisting of similar people.”

Here are the people who met on her website

It must be said that some of the pairs shown are not very similar; apparently, not everyone is chosen based on visual criteria. And some are similar, but have already broken up: “Similar appearance irresistibly attracts. But if people have different areas of interest, different principles and goals, then sooner or later this will begin to cause quarrels. This is how, because of the same shape of eyebrows, nose and chin, people fall in love, and then spend years in meaningless relationships from which they cannot get out.”

I must say, this is interesting and if it turns out to be true, it will be many consequences:
- theories of the origin of peoples : different types of appearance are divided,
- theory of finding partners similar to parents : parents used to choose a couple for their children, and sometimes in a very early age and quite successfully, now it’s clear how - on your own,
- there are theories that facial features correlate with character traits , which means that the parental traits are a familiar character to which he adapted in childhood,
- importance of similarity not only due to genetic reasons : there are many beautiful people in the world, each is beautiful in their own way, so it’s difficult to choose one over the other and there is always a chance that there will be someone better, at the same time, “your” image is special for a person, this is the starting point for all comparisons, and you won’t get tired of it , even if you look at it daily,
- theory, why is cosmetics popular? : bright lipstick and long eyelashes from mascara become a subconscious signal that the woman is alone, because... if she has a partner, then she will prefer to choose modest cosmetics in order to become visually similar to him; approximately the same applies to rare hair colors, such as blonde, because... men rarely dye their hair; for teenagers it may be the other way around if they simultaneously change something in their appearance (unusual hairstyle, clothes) to show that they are a couple,
- similar theories of auditory and kinesthetic likening of spouses to each other: for example, if the husband speaks loudly and the wife speaks quietly, then over time he will speak softer and she will speak louder, so that approximately the same volume level is obtained,
- in most cases this is all unconsciously , which suggests that Homo sapiens, in fact, sometimes does not trust his reason in the most important things.

Possible reasons:
mentioned above:
- a person is accustomed to and likes his own appearance, so he likes people who are similar to him;
- a person likes his parents, so he likes people who are similar to them;
- people adapt to each other over time, adopt habits, facial expressions, etc.;
and also:
- role in education: children imitate their parents in behavior, appearance, etc. If the parents are very different, then the children will have to choose which one to imitate. Then there are two options: either the children will be divided into two camps - “father’s” and “mother’s” - and most likely will begin to compete with children’s maximalism, which will undermine the family and contribute to its disintegration; or they will take some of the traits from the father, some from the mother, which will help the search for a common image and help strengthen the family. The similarity of the parents is therefore important because reduces the risk of family breakdown for the above reason, and also provides greater emotional comfort, since the children will be similar to both, but everyone will feel that they are just like him;
- inheritance of information: people inherit not only genetic information, and not only “national” information - language, traditions, laws and customs - but also “family” information, which can represent, in addition to some family traditions, also behavioral characteristics, facial expressions , lifestyle, etc. The similarity of parents allows this information to be passed on to offspring without conflict.

Municipal budget educational institution

Shatalovskaya high school

Pochinkovsky district

Smolensk region

"CONSIDERED"

Head of the Ministry of Defense

___________/_________________/

Full name

Protocol No.___
from "___" ______________2015

"APPROVED"

Head of MBOU Shatalovskaya Secondary School

_____________/__ Mamicheva I.S. _/

Full name

Order No. _____
from "____"___________2015

WORK PROGRAM

Elective course

“Why don’t we look alike?”

10th grade

biology teacher

Voronina Galina Nikolaevna

2015/2016 academic year

Explanatory note

Class 10.

Teacher: Voronina Galina Nikolaevna

Number of hours: 34 hours total, 1 hour per week.

Planning is based on the Collection of Programs elective courses Biology 10th grade. Pre-profile preparation, Uchitel Publishing House, Volgograd, 2008.

The study of patterns of variation and variation is the theoretical basis of breeding, health care, genetic engineering, biotechnology.

Course objectives:

Show the priority of environmental values ​​over material ones;

Be able to use knowledge in situations of searching for an ideal morally and physically healthy person;

To create conditions for the formation and development of students' intellectual and practical skills in the field of genetics.

Course objectives:

Students should be able to characterize:

Modification, mutation and combinative variability;

Norm of reaction;

The importance of the genotype and environmental conditions in the formation of the phenotype;

The significance of mutations in evolution, genetics, medicine and environmental safety of the population.

Be able to compare:

Points of view of different scientists;

Types of mutations;

Forms natural selection;

High quality and quantitative characteristics.

Solve genetic problems.

Introduction (1 hour)

A stunning variety of life. The meaning of diversity in nature. Basic forms of variability.

Types of variability (5 hours).

Combinative variability: sources, significance for evolution.

Mutational variability. Genomic, chromosomal, gene mutations.

Neutral mutations. Generative and somatic mutations.

Semi-lethal and lethal mutations.

Basic provisions of mutation theory.

Causes of occurrence and artificial production of mutations (3 hours).

Natural mutation process. Mutagenic environmental factors.

Experimental production of mutations. Works by I.A. Rappoport, V.V. Sakharova and others.

Protecting people from the effects of mutagens.

Variability in exchange genetic information(3 hours)

Mobile genetic elements. Properties of mobile genetic elements.

Ways to move. Transduction. Transformation.

Use of mobile genetic elements in genetic engineering.

Genetic variation in natural populations (3 hours).

Population. Gene pool. Frequencies of genes and genotypes.

Study of genetic variation. Study of chromosomal polymorphism.

Level of heterozygosity in natural populations. Works by S.S. Chetverikov.

The principle of population equilibrium. Hardy–Weinberg Law (3 hours)

Types of crossings. Hardy–Weinberg law.

Population equilibrium and sex. Biological meaning of the law.

Problem solving.

Isolation (3 hours)

Primary insulation.

Secondary insulation.

Isolating mechanisms. Population waves and genetic drift.

Natural selection (8 hours).

Struggle for existence. Types of struggle for existence.

Definition and general characteristics natural selection.

Inconsistency of the vector of natural selection.

Natural selection in laboratory experiment.

Moving form natural selection (conditions, mechanism of action, result).

Stabilizing form of natural selection (conditions, mechanism of action, result).

Disruptive form of natural selection (conditions, mechanism of action, result).

The creative role of natural selection.

Migrations (2 hours).

Patterns of allele migration.

Migration of alleles in human populations. The significance of allele migrations.

Modification variability (3 hours).

Qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The influence of environmental conditions on qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

Health as a norm of reaction to the environment.

Modification variability, its statistical patterns. Variation series and variation curve. Summing up the course.

Literature for students:

1. Anastasova L.P. " Independent work students by general biology" M., Education, 1989

2. Atramentova L.A. “Human genetics in the school course of general biology.” Journal "Biology at school" No. 5, 1993

3. Berklinblit M.B. and others. “Almost 200 problems in genetics.” M., Miros, 1992

Literature for teachers:

1. Dampilova V.B. "Fundamentals of Genetics". Biology, 2003

2. Dubinin N.P. "Horizons of genetics". M., Education, 1970

3. Sokolovskaya B.Kh. “120 problems in genetics.” M., Center of the Russian Orthodox Church, 1991

4. Sysoev T.N. "Human Genetics". "Biology", 2002

5. Titova V.I. “Solving problems in genetics using G. Mendel’s laws.” "B iology", 2004

It happens sometimes that in Russian outback, a girl living in a village looks like, for example, Sophie Marceau. And the guy from the next door is, well, the spitting image of Brad Pete! Why are people similar in appearance to each other, having different parents and sometimes living in different countries? We will try to answer this rather specific question in this article.

Some restrictions

The thing is that Mother Nature does not have as many forms and materials for creating human images as it might seem at first glance. We all know that there are only a few human races and people within one of them often have quite similar physiognomic features. So, the Chinese, for example, especially from a European point of view, look very similar to each other. Interestingly, the “black race” also perceives all “whites” as similar to each other.

Genera and genes

According to scientists, each race contains from 400 to 600 different genera, distinguished genetically. So there is not too much variation within race and gender either, considering total population planet Earth. These reasons are considered quite objective in the matter of the similarity of people who are not relatives.

Relatives and spouses

Relatives, of course, can be similar to each other even with a gap of two or three generations. Interestingly, spouses who have lived together for many years also become similar to each other.

Optical illusion

Often, the similarity of people is determined by facial expressions, gestures, and behavioral characteristics. So, you can copy almost any inhabitant of the Earth. This is what parodists of famous personalities use, for example.

The world is full of similar people who are not connected by blood ties. How is it possible that two people, born and raised in different parts of the world, look like two peas in a pod? Is there a clear scientific explanation for this phenomenon?

People who are similar to each other and are not relatives - is this possible? It turns out yes. A French photographer once had a wonderful idea. He found and captured on film similar people who were not related by any blood ties. His name is Francois Brunelle. It took him about twelve years to realize his idea. The photographer tracked people with eerily similar features around the world and helped them find their doppelgängers. Some photos of similar people from the work of Francois Brunelle are presented in this article. Carefully study the proposed images and compare how many similarities there are between complete strangers who are not related by blood.

Every person in this world has 7 doubles

They say that every person in this world has at least seven very similar people. One can easily agree that this assumption is quite frightening and unnatural. It is hardly possible to find two exact copies on our planet, identical as two drops of water. Even blood twins have features that, at least slightly, make it possible for those around them to distinguish them, not to mention a stranger who lives on the other side of the Earth.

Not the same, but, nevertheless, incredibly similar people still exist, and not as rarely as it might seem. They live in different cities, countries, continents, lead a completely different way of life. They do not have common genes, they differ in language and culture, but their similarity really cannot be denied.

Same appearance - same character?

We all know that there are similar people. Is this purely a superficial resemblance? Can a person and his counterpart from another country have the same character traits and type of activity? It would be strange and surprising at the same time. In fact, it happens in different ways. For example, there once lived in Rome an emperor named Maximin (early 4th century AD), and so, looking at his bust, you can see in his features the dictator from the 20th century, familiar to everyone - Adolf Hitler. These similar people not only had the same facial features, but both were dictators in their time, and both died ignominiously.

This question is quite difficult to answer, modern science There are no exact answers, there are only guesses. One of the most probable versions is the one that explains the external similarity of complete strangers by identical genetic makeup. For a reason that is unclear to date, similar people have exactly the same DNA.

These twins are also called biogenic. This means that their genetic material is the same, but their biological parents are different. It happens that people can be similar and live in different places at the same time and be the same age. Some may be separated by years, centuries, or even entire millennia. Natural diversity, it turns out, is not limitless, there are billions of people in the world, and there is always a chance of a random coincidence of genetic sets.

Secret relationship

Scientists believe it is quite possible that similar people are very, very distant relatives. By resorting to basic mathematical analysis, one can make the following calculations: the average citizen, after eight generations, will be the descendant of 256 relatives who, one way or another, are related by blood ties. If we imagine that 40, 50 or more generations have passed, the relatives will number in the millions. And no one knows where the genetic material will coincide and in what generation.

In card jargon, genes are shuffled like cards in a deck, but at a certain moment the same “hands” appear with minimal probability. Then doubles are born, people who are as similar to each other as two peas in a pod. Perhaps nature has its own plans for this, its own secret goals.

Search for doubles on the Internet

Today, on the World Wide Web, there are many sites with which you can find an exact copy of yourself among show business stars, great emperors and historically significant leaders using photographs. They are also looking for their doubles among the most ordinary people their different cities and states. All you have to do is upload your photo in a certain format, and after a while the search engines will be able to find for you a couple of twins, or at least people who will be very similar to you.

Such sites are quite popular, because it is actually interesting to know, and even more so to see, your double. It's like meeting yourself in parallel world. Before the advent of the Internet, this was almost impossible to do, but now there are many opportunities. active search, and why not use them?

Miracles, and that's all

Doppelgangers are a phenomenon that is interesting in itself. People are more or less accustomed to the similarity of blood twins and granddaughters and their great-grandmothers, but to meet a person who is exactly like another person who is not a relative, and even lives thousands of kilometers away, this is more interesting.

Who knows, maybe in the future scientists will figure out how to use this quirk of nature. It is likely that the similarity of genomes can open up incredible prospects in such a field of medicine as transplantology. As biologists assure, the chance of an exact match of genetic sets infinitely approaches zero. However, partial copying of genes is quite normal, which proves that all of humanity is one big family.