doppelgangerMy eleven year old grandson informed me that he had seen his “doppelgänger” at an amusement park.  After a suitable pause, and a bewildered look, I bit:  “What’s a doppelgänger?”  With a pleased smile, presumably for putting one over on the old man, he had the good manners to explain, avoiding a suggestion to look up the word in a dictionary, as I may have done to him:  “A doppelgänger is a person who looks just like you.”  What an interesting concept — and name!  A review of some dictionary definitions for the word doppelgänger confirms the concept:     

— “An apparition or double of a living person.”  (Dictionary.com)

— “A ghostly double of a living person; either of two people who physically resemble each other.  (The Free Dictionary by Farlex.)

— “A non-biologically related look-alike or double of a living person . . . often used in a more general sense, and in slang, to describe any person who physically resembles another person.”  (Wikipedia, Doppelgänger)

To round out the definitions, and to embed the word in our minds, let’s review some synonyms:  Alter ego, carbon copy, double, facsimile, look-alike, replica, spitting image. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.)

That does it!  the lengthly word stems from the German language, literally meaning  “double goer.”  Originally, doppelgänger carried a ghostly sense. (dictionary.com.)  According to German folklore, all living persons have a spiritual double, which are distinct from ghosts, adding an eerie aura to the word, doppelgänger.

Technological advances have begun utilizing facial recognition, by focusing on several facial characteristics; such as eye locations, nose type, cheek bones, chin and jaws. These features are captured in a face template, which is used to search against similar database templates to find a match.  As this technology becomes more prevalent, people indubitably will search facial recognition to find their doppelgängers.  Obviously, facial recognition biometrics will prevent a person from seeing themselves as someone they are not. After all, how many doppelgängers could claim Cary Grant or Paul Newman?

All in all, I do not recall ever seeing someone who closely resembled my persona, though I have received many opined comments that my looks or actions remind someone of someone else —  Perhaps close, but no doppelgänger.