Twins: Born Together, Raised Apart
Twins often have similar characteristics that go beyond physical appearance. What would happen if a set of twins grew up apart; would their characteristics change based on their surroundings or would their genes keep them alike? The question is, "What is it that makes us who we really are: our life experiences or our DNA?" (npr.org)
Through the years, scientists have done many studies on twins to see how much DNA affects personalities. Even though most adoption agencies try to keep siblings together, it is not always possible, so occasionally twins have to go to different families (creatingafamily.org). In China, because of the one child rule, sometimes the families will just leave one twin at the …show more content…
They grew up in Germany in 1933; their dad was a Jew and their mother was a German. Their parents divorced when they were only six months old. Their mom took Oskar, while their dad took Jack. Jack was raised as a Jew, and Oskar lived in Germany and was a Catholic. The twins grew up, and even though they knew about the other twin, they never met each other until they were twenty years old. When they met, the twins did not find much they had in common other than appearance. They spoke different languages and had different opinions on many things; in fact, Jack was very offended by Oskar's beliefs about Jews. Twenty-five years later, Jack approached Thomas Bouchard about he and his twin. Both Jack and Oskar went to Minnesota to be apart of Bouchard's study with twins. When they met each other, they were wearing almost the exact same outfit, but the similarities did not stop there. After meeting with Bouchard, they found that they both loved spicy foods, and they both flushed the toilet before and after using it. They both had a hard time in math, but sports were the thing they both excelled in. During a hypnosis test, they were both asked to be quiet. While waiting for absolute silence, Oskar sneezed. This would not have been weird if the wife had not later explained that he does this in awkward silences as a joke. Jack was very surprised because he did the exact same thing all the time …show more content…
This brings the question of whether genes are responsible for all of the personality traits we have as humans. Nancy Pederson found that how long the twins were separated or how far apart they were raised from each other were not the controlling factors in the amount of similarities in twins. Nancy like most people who have studied twins in this context, found that genetics played a " significant role"(alfre.dk ) in personality factors of twins. Nancy also found that virtual twins, which are siblings who are not related biologically and are around the same age, had very few similarities in personalities. Proving both Nancy and many other scientists work with twins research because this could explain why biological siblings can have completely different personalities. Even though siblings have the same parents, their friends, the sports they play, and their hobbies could be reasons why they do not act the same. Siblings do not have the underlying connection that twins have, which is why twins are able to have very indistinguishable
Twins often have similar characteristics that go beyond physical appearance. What would happen if a set of twins grew up apart; would their characteristics change based on their surroundings or would their genes keep them alike? The question is, "What is it that makes us who we really are: our life experiences or our DNA?" (npr.org)
Through the years, scientists have done many studies on twins to see how much DNA affects personalities. Even though most adoption agencies try to keep siblings together, it is not always possible, so occasionally twins have to go to different families (creatingafamily.org). In China, because of the one child rule, sometimes the families will just leave one twin at the …show more content…
They grew up in Germany in 1933; their dad was a Jew and their mother was a German. Their parents divorced when they were only six months old. Their mom took Oskar, while their dad took Jack. Jack was raised as a Jew, and Oskar lived in Germany and was a Catholic. The twins grew up, and even though they knew about the other twin, they never met each other until they were twenty years old. When they met, the twins did not find much they had in common other than appearance. They spoke different languages and had different opinions on many things; in fact, Jack was very offended by Oskar's beliefs about Jews. Twenty-five years later, Jack approached Thomas Bouchard about he and his twin. Both Jack and Oskar went to Minnesota to be apart of Bouchard's study with twins. When they met each other, they were wearing almost the exact same outfit, but the similarities did not stop there. After meeting with Bouchard, they found that they both loved spicy foods, and they both flushed the toilet before and after using it. They both had a hard time in math, but sports were the thing they both excelled in. During a hypnosis test, they were both asked to be quiet. While waiting for absolute silence, Oskar sneezed. This would not have been weird if the wife had not later explained that he does this in awkward silences as a joke. Jack was very surprised because he did the exact same thing all the time …show more content…
This brings the question of whether genes are responsible for all of the personality traits we have as humans. Nancy Pederson found that how long the twins were separated or how far apart they were raised from each other were not the controlling factors in the amount of similarities in twins. Nancy like most people who have studied twins in this context, found that genetics played a " significant role"(alfre.dk ) in personality factors of twins. Nancy also found that virtual twins, which are siblings who are not related biologically and are around the same age, had very few similarities in personalities. Proving both Nancy and many other scientists work with twins research because this could explain why biological siblings can have completely different personalities. Even though siblings have the same parents, their friends, the sports they play, and their hobbies could be reasons why they do not act the same. Siblings do not have the underlying connection that twins have, which is why twins are able to have very indistinguishable