Telepathy Between Twins: Truth Or Lie?

There has been talk of telepathy between twins for a long time now. There are hundreds of accounts of this special form of communication, which seem to confirm its existence. The issue has a large following in magazines and newspapers, but on a scientific level it is approached very differently.

We tend to be fascinated by supernatural and out of the ordinary phenomena. Our mind does not live on rationality alone, but also on imagination and loves to surprise us. We experience a kind of excitement whenever we encounter events or situations that seem to defy the laws of reality.

As for telepathy between twins, let’s start by saying that there are two totally opposite positions on this. On the one hand, science, which denies the existence of this phenomenon; to be exact it denies the existence of telepathy. On the other hand, hundreds of testimonies claiming the opposite. Who should we believe?

Telepathy between twins: the testimonies

Who hasn’t heard a story about telepathy between twins, real or made up? Some of these testimonies have even become famous for the very particular circumstances in which they took place.

Among the best known cases is that of Martha Williams and Jean Haley. The peculiarity of this story is that the two sisters died in the same way and within minutes of each other. They were both 97 years old and both tripped, fell and died shortly thereafter. Martha slipped on her way down a step, while Jean slipped onto a doormat trying to rescue her.

Both remained on the ground for a long time; they lived alone and their bodies were only found the next day. They died of hypothermia. This is undoubtedly a rather impressive coincidence, but nothing suggests that it was a supernatural phenomenon.

Other interesting testimonials

Without going to the extremes of the two sisters just mentioned, there are hundreds of testimonies on telepathy between twins. It is said, for example, that when one feels pain, the other feels it in the same part of the body.

It is also claimed that one twin is able to sense when the other is in danger even hundreds of miles away. One mother reported that one of her twin children one day started crying with pain in her knee. He had him examined by a pediatrician, who found nothing strange; then he visited his brother, finding an infection. In summary, one was ill, but only the other exhibited symptoms.

Child psychologist Coks Feenstra published The Big Book of Twins in 1999. In this book she talks about the numerous cases of telepathy between twins that she encountered. Often one of the two feels that the other is about to call him. In other cases, they buy the exact same thing on the same day, thousands of miles away.

What does science say about it?

From a scientific point of view, there is no evidence of the existence of telepathy. Consequently, there is no evidence of telepathy between twins. In addition to this, we have an interesting fact about it: there are about 100 million twins in the world and only very few of them report telepathic experiences.

The University of Cambridge conducted a study of 663 pairs of twins. Researchers have proven that the great genetic similarity and shared education make them very similar in the way they process and react to environmental stimuli. However, this similarity does not exceed 65% in the aspects where they are most similar.

For the scientific method it is essential that a phenomenon always repeats itself in the same circumstances. In the case of twins this does not happen. There are many more cases of twins who do not feel connected by something that goes beyond the kinship itself and their shared history than others.

The fact that science affirms it does not guarantee its veracity, but obviously it is data supported by some research. Anyone who thinks that this phenomenon exists does not lie. He probably interprets the facts according to his own wishes and fantasies, which is not in itself wrong, as long as it does not adversely affect their lives.