Moved in with my clone

As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

I moved abroad for a study exchange. I was assigned a room in a shared flat. Upon arriving, I discovered that there was a huge amount of mould growing underneath the linoleum floors– clearly visible but impossible to remove. I asked to change flats and moved into another one the next day. When I met my new flatmate for the first time, we were both in shock: our features were disturbingly similar. We had the same hair colour, hairstyle and eye colour; very similar facial features, facial expressions, body language, and laugh. It turned out that neither of us spoke the local language, but we both spoke French. We proceeded to discuss (in French) how strange this resemblance was, and reassured each other that surely there were many differences between us we had yet to find out about. To change the subject, I mentioned that I had visited Scotland recently. She replied that she had, too. We then turned to relationships, and my flatmate told me she had ended things with her girlfriend in her home country the month before. So had I. Later we went to pick up some used furniture, and got asked if we were sisters by two different people. As a final test, we sent my flatmate's mother a photo of me to see whether she would notice it wasn't of her daughter. She didn't. And that's the story of how I moved in with my clone thanks to mouldy linoleum.
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Date submitted:Wed, 28 Oct 2020 16:37:30 +0000Coincidence ID:10555