Simulation Theory Supported By Doppelgangers As "Lazy Code"

Key Quotes

"The theme this week is about doppelgangers the idea that they're out there in the world is somebody that looks exactly like you not only maybe one person many many many possible people out there looking like you what does this have to do with simulation theory well the truth is is that if this is a simulation computing power will be a massive massive problem and one way to actually reduce the amount of code and the demand on the computers is of course just to repeat repeat storylines repeat scenery and the like all of which to just reduce the amount of data that's needed so one obvious one is of course people and their faces and their likeness a really good example of this is early computer games if you remember npcs non playable characters of computer games back in the old days there was about four npcs all repeated all throughout the game so there was like hundreds of characters when there was only really about four versions of it just repeated so welcome to doppelgangers let's go deep woo let's go deep and the concept of lazy code itself is that the universe is sort of slightly given up and we're saying it's too obvious you're just showing your homework now pull your finger out universe try harder"

Leon Kirkbeck explains that in a simulated reality, repeating elements like people and scenery would be a strategy to conserve computing power. He likens this to early video games that reused non-playable characters (NPCs) to manage data demands. Kirkbeck suggests that doppelgangers, or people who look alike, could be an example of this "lazy code" in the universe.

"Doppelganger is actually a German word and it means double goer or double walker and your doppelganger if you don't know is someone that is not genetically related to you but who looks undeniably similar to you ideally looks indistinguishable sharing significant facial features but this can also expand into like body shapes and personality and little quirks and mannerisms and even life paths and what i was alluding to earlier in my research is that there's actually a whole another genre of doppelgangers which is actual doubles of yourself so it turns out that humans have this really long history with doubles specifically and there's heaps of accounts of people seeing exact replicas of themselves and we have this common superstition right that if you see your own doppelganger it means death have you guys heard that before"

Helena Brooke defines a doppelganger as someone not genetically related who looks strikingly similar, potentially sharing facial features, body types, and even mannerisms. Brooke notes that this concept extends to historical accounts of people encountering exact replicas of themselves. She also mentions the superstition that seeing one's own doppelganger portends death.

"The king was clearly taken by these extraordinary coincidences and as the night ended he invited his fellow umberto to join him at an athletics competition the next day but the restaurateur never arrived he mysteriously died the morning of the competition in an accident involving a gun the king was disappointed but not for long because later that evening he himself was shot to death by an assassin"

Dan Schreiber recounts the story of King Umberto I and a restaurateur who shared the same name, birthday, marriage date, wife's name, and son's name. Schreiber highlights that after a night of extraordinary coincidences, the restaurateur died mysteriously the next day, and King Umberto I was assassinated that same evening. This narrative illustrates a striking parallel in life paths and unfortunate ends, aligning with the doppelganger theme.

"So in 1903 a man named william west arrived at the leavenworth penitentiary in kansas and the people taking him in were like 'this guy is already here we've already put him in the prison ' and they pulled up the other file of william west who they had already put in the prison and they were two separate people and you look at them side by side and they look so similar it is uncanny they weren't known to be related either and even their bertillon measurements which is the system they used before fingerprinting which is like unchangeable body parts like head shape and stuff they were essentially indistinguishable so they had the same body wow and this case is actually the reason why fingerprinting was implemented throughout the us was because they were so similar oh wow yeah they needed to start fingerprinting in prisons wow dude that's very cool yeah"

Leon Kirkbeck shares the historical case of two unrelated men named William West who were both incarcerated in the same penitentiary. Kirkbeck emphasizes their uncanny resemblance and similar physical measurements, which were used for identification before fingerprinting. He points out that this specific mix-up was a catalyst for the widespread adoption of fingerprinting in the US prison system.

"The story goes that her granddad was shaving in the mirror with a razor like a straight razor and suddenly in the mirror saw his brother like just his brother was there in the mirror right yeah now his brother lives on the other side of the country and so it's not like he popped his head around the door and he quickly saw him he was in another bit of the country so the shock of it meant that he sliced his face with the razor yeah with the razor so he was like 'bro what are you doing here ' and 'kung ' really scared him next day he gets a phone call telling him that his brother who worked down in the mines had an accident and had died yeah and so he now has this lifelong scar on his face to show the moment of when he saw this thing and sam said that this is a version of a doppelganger where you see someone who shouldn't be where they are in a place exactly this is in irish and scottish folklore known as a fetch wow which is in our 'death is near' section so very good little transition and yeah a fetch is known to be something that imitates a living person and like you say will show up ages away from where they're supposed to be usually to someone that loves them and they'll be like 'whoa ' and then they'll disappear unfortunately it's not a very good thing to see a fetch because it's a sign that that person is about to die or is already dead"

Dan Schreiber recounts a paranormal story where a grandfather saw his brother, who lived far away, in a mirror while shaving, causing him to cut his face. The next day, he learned his brother had died in an accident. Schreiber connects this to the concept of a "fetch" from Irish and Scottish folklore, a doppelganger that appears unexpectedly and is considered an omen of death.

"The story goes that her granddad was shaving in the mirror with a razor like a straight razor and suddenly in the mirror saw his brother like just his brother was there in the mirror right yeah now his brother lives on the other side of the country and so it's not like he popped his head around the door and he quickly saw him he was in another bit of the country so the shock of it meant that he sliced his face with the razor yeah with the razor so he was like 'bro what are you doing here ' and 'kung ' really scared him next day he gets a phone call telling him that his brother who worked down