I have an identical twin brother. The two of us have attended the same schools and for the most part, had identical schedules. Our understanding of each course's content had also, in all practicality, overlapped. Even within niches, economics (my own) and biology/anatomy (his), knowledge of the other's respective specialties were not lacking; it was more of a matter of which brother was able to recall and translate information faster and sometimes, with more detail or the speed with which he recognized the nature of a question or transfer elements to another topic. His understanding of economic models or the structure of a nerve cell did not differ. From our extracurricular activities to our athletic ability, we were close to exact substitutes for most any tasks either of us received.
Not surprisingly, we have always been asked things such as "Do you take each other's tests?" or "Do you ever copy each other's homework?" and I could proudly say that, despite the numerous chances presented every year, we never took advantage of our circumstances in such a way. To this day, the strongest motivation as to why was an overwhelming sense of pride and integrity when it comes to work. Overwhelming in the sense that should the name of a strongly dishonest peer be mentioned around our friends or household, there were odds one of us may lapse into a remorseless critique of their habits, work ethic, trustworthiness, motives, and personality, invoking his/her past transgressions and skeptical practices. That tends to be an extreme reaction, a merciless tirade reserved for the most repulsive classmates, however, as we often opt for snarky one-liners of slight disapproval. So whether our sense of justice is extreme or whether we are simply blunt and socially inept, I often confuse myself. Whatever the case, we prided ourselves on this integrity because it distinguished ourselves even further from the general populace, whether they were aware of it or not.
Another reason for not taking advantage of our twin status was a firm belief that doing our own share of work was for our own good and critical to enduring understanding of subject material. We knew, should we lose out on practice by passing off homework or unit tests, it would come further down the line, as cumulative knowledge or in a final exam. A practical reason for not engaging in opportunism was maintaining a zone of neutrality between the two of us— to what extent would one brother lean on the other? There would almost certainly be an imbalance in the amount of work one brother does for the other, and should one of us fall into the habit of relying on the other for a course, having to do any amount of extra work could serve as friction during times of stress.
I don't believe these reasons amount to the same thing. They may stem from the same feelings of justice and integrity, but the reasons for which one acts upon those feelings may be different. Some people may take altruistic pleasure from acting the "good citizen" for that reason and that reason alone. Others believe luck and opportunity to be karmic, and this is in its own sense, self-serving— there is altruistic pleasure derived in the present and belief that materialistic pleasure is due their way. In the case of my brother and I, the reasons for acting upon our sense of morality were self-serving, but in a still different sense. We did not expect our habits to qualify us for future encounters with luck, nor did we (for the most part) hold ourselves as upstanding citizens nor as benefactors of justice. Chiefly, we behaved this way so that we may fuel our vicious arrogance, taking from it all a twisted pleasure in not only sweeping academic scores and displaying unflagging dedication in athletics, but doing so in a manner that could not be denied or countered. Our sense of integrity is largely a social reaction to our peers— we saw dishonesty as weaknesses in others, a handicap they allow themselves to keep up with competition. In this, we derived confidence and for having refrained from such activities, viewed ourselves as superior as we, in spite of handicaps, remained forerunners in several degrees of measure. Separate from those feelings, there was also a practical and realistic reason for not engaging in opportunism, being that between two hypothetical cheaters collaborating, who would bear the higher cost? For the two of us, this would become problematic extremely quickly. And at a crossroad between practicality and morality, there was fear that engaging in opportunism would hinder us in the future. This sounds entirely a practical reason, but from our point of view, we generally attributed most of our learning to textbooks, lectures, and notes, more so than homework and tests. However, we put our faith into our instructors that these were critical components to learning, and so, felt morally obligated to meet the objectives laid out by our teachers, with the practical goal of learning for the future in mind.
Do you know how common identical twins are in the population? It might be something you research a little. If you are already part of a very small group, then you might do things to make that group more elite. It sounds like that was at least a little bit part of your explanation
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if what you said carried over from schoolwork to housework when growing up. In looking at my own kids, I note the older one is generally helpful while the younger one tends to expect others to pick up after him. I don't attribute this so much to opportunism by the younger one as to a simple lack of awareness. If he paid attention then he'd put his dishes in the dishwasher. As it is, either I or my wife do that after he has left.
At an ethical level, most of us probably think of cheating on a test as being more egregious than not putting away the dishes. I expect both of my children to be honest with regard to the former. You didn't mention your parents in this story but I wonder what role they had to play in determining the behavior of your and your brother.
I also wonder whether you even had fun with your identities and misleading others about who is who, when it wasn't a test that was at issue but something more amusing. I haven't yet started to confuse the names of my kids, but my parents in their later years would often refer to me as my brother and vice versa. So I can imagine there might be some family entertainment in store in your case, though I suppose each family is different as to what they find amusing.
It seems that, at a rate near 1 in 333, the likelihood of twins are far lower than what I had in mind prior to looking it up, but I guess I can attribute that to cognitive biases; I could actively recall at least four other identical pairs when I was in high school, one pair being my cousins. Not having been acquainted with the several thousand students that entered and left my high school probably gave me the illusion that the rate was higher.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to housework, certain tasks were rotated, while others were assigned. Washing dishes was rotated, but my brother handled mowing the lawn during the summer while I operated the snowblower in the winter. More often than I would like to admit, an uncle that lives with us usually washes the dishes after dinner, but this is due to what seems like a cultural gap between generations. My brother and I, as long as no one is of need of the dishes later that night, see no problem with cleaning up several hours after everyone has eaten, much to my mother's chagrin, who would rather see the dishes washed as soon as possible. I like to think I, the younger twin, am more active and helpful around the house.
Our parents immigrated to the states in the 80s, and, possessing only middle and high school levels of education, work long hours practically all week. We are regularly reminded to excel in school so not to end up in their position. Our parents are largely responsible for instilling that honesty and integrity and molding our work ethic, and in hindsight, I should have given this a nod in my post. However, it quickly became such that our dedication to those moral policies was not to please or show obedience to our parents. It would not have harmed us to cheat from each other or another classmate for petty assignments, but even the busywork we approached with diligence. Cheating every now and then would not have estranged us from those taught values, being keenly aware of the impracticality of an absolute and binding moral code, aware of friends who partake in these "white lies," but exhibit commendable attitude to their goals, being aware of the grey world of conditions and cruelty of circumstance. Thus, I concluded that our primary reason was social dominance. Our parents may have set us on this path, but we chose to stay on it, so to say.
We did have fun with our identities toward the end of our high school years, but in mostly harmless ways. Having different lunch periods was convenient. When one twin was absent, the other would often use a portion of their lunchtime to sit in the other's class, before abruptly walking out some time during the period, to the uproar and laughter of the entire room. The one time it caused problems was when my Spanish teacher, who was having a particularly stressful day, ended up overwriting my absence for the rest of the day when my brother showed up to class. She was not very amused, and my brother actually had to write her an apology for that incident.
I suspect that my mother sometimes isn't able to tell the difference, but this could be due to her being busy and having to call us from within the kitchen. What usually happens is that my parents address both of us as often as possible, or, if my mother is in her bedroom upstairs, she sends our little sister to fetch us.