# If you met yourself, would you be friends or kill each other? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760 "2003-11-01T00:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/21 "2003-11-01T03:37:16Z")
I figure since I’m always hilarious in my own head, I’d probably like meeting me. I lose most of my close friends when I go off on tangents they can’t follow, they just wait patiently for me to return and smile indulgently as I crack up at my own self, this way I’d have someone else who got it. How cool could that be? I’m sorta having trouble picturing myself as the opposite gender though. ---
**Author:** ![Fnoonf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Fnoonf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fnoonf)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/22 "2003-11-01T05:39:11Z")
I’d challenge the double to a fussball match. After the 17,000th tied game, we’d both drop dead of malnourishment. Here’s hoping I don’t have a double. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/23 "2003-11-01T06:27:16Z")
I’m not sure. On one hand, being with someone with my exact personality would be kinda neat at first, but it would get pretty dull because there wouldn’t be any new experiences. On the other hand, there are so many times when I make witty observations and inside jokes that only I would understand, and it would be great to be able to share that with someone, even if it was another me. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/24 "2003-11-01T06:28:26Z")
I think we’d get along fine. I enjoy my company and I am a good listener. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/25 "2003-11-01T06:31:39Z")
I _have_ met me. we get along famously. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ProjectOmega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@ProjectOmega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProjectOmega)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/26 "2003-11-01T07:31:10Z")
I’d probably end up pissing myself off, ending up in a horrendously bloody battle to the finish, like in _The One_ except less flips and more broken beer bottles. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/27 "2003-11-01T07:37:14Z")
That bastard is dead. There’s only one me and there’s no way it’s going to be him. _A red dot appears on the side of **HPL’s** head, a gunshot rings out and his brains are spattered all over the floor_ I’m the real **HPL**. That last guy was just an imposter. ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Dracul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/50afbb/32.png) [@Vlad\_Dracul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Dracul)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/28 "2003-11-01T07:52:08Z")
I’d knock him out, stick him in cryogenic suspension, and use him as a supply of perfectly compatible donor parts. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/29 "2003-11-01T08:52:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CakeOrDeath666 \* > **Great question.** Thanks. > [@](#): > > I’d probably find me really annoying. Also quite boring, because we wouldn’t be able to have many good conversations - we’d be agreeing with each other all the time. \*\* Interestingly enough, I think _we’d_ disagree quite a lot, simply because I enjoy nitpicking. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/30 "2003-11-01T12:23:33Z")
Probably sit down and have a chat. He’ll then convince me that I’ve had enough to drink. ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6bbea6/32.png) [@Yersinia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/31 "2003-11-01T14:00:12Z")
If by this you mean would I get along with someone similar to me in appearance and exactly like me in terms of personality, yes, I would be friends with “her” (me). I would be grateful to have a friend who could watch movies (and Star Trek episodes on video) with me quietly and save the discussion for afterwards, rather than talking incessantly through the movie (like my only RL friend does – I love her but she does drive me nuts this way). I would also be grateful to have a friend who I could THOROUGHLY understand, and who would understand me just as thoroughly, deep down to the root. Being able to understand a person and being understood is the most important “need” I have socially, and it’s almost never been met. The thing is though, because most people I encounter (coworkers for example) aren’t people I even care to bother with much less make friends with, and I hate going out and being around crowds (I’m not a party person either), likely I wouldn’t even get to MEET “me” because I’ve become as close to a hermit as is possible for someone who still has to go out to work every day. As to if I’d date a male version of myself, not only is the answer yes but I think I’ve found as close to one as could possibly exist, thanks to my aforementioned friend who is wonderful other than the fact that she can’t keep her mouth shut while watching a movie, LOL. Yes there are differences, but in what I consider to be the most important ways he’s exactly like me and since we’ve been together I’ve had my first taste of the deep understanding I’ve craved all my life. We HAD to be “fixed up” because we’d never have met each other, otherwise. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/32 "2003-11-01T14:08:47Z")
I think the best thing about meeting myself would be finally finding someone who caught all the quotes and references as I speak. It’s just a habit of mine to make obscure references and out-of-context quotes when talking, and meeting me would involve a lot of “I’ve read that!” and “I’ve seen that!” and “Oh my god I love that!” Can I pose a slight variant to this question? Say you met someone who was _you_, mentally and emotionally, but didn’t _look_ like you. How long before you realise that the other person is actually you? I think I’d need quite some time to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Innanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecd19e/32.png) [@Innanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innanna)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/33 "2003-11-01T15:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loneraven \* > \*\*Can I pose a slight variant to this question? Say you met someone who was _you_, mentally and emotionally, but didn’t _look_ like you. How long before you realise that the other person is actually you? > > I think I’d need quite some time to figure it out. \*\* I am enough of an oddball that I think I would figure it out (like when Innanna 2.0 and I said the same thing at the same time). But it is entirely possible that I would just assume that I was somehow related to this person–my family is a little strange as well. As to the OP? Well, honestly, I think that myself and I would immediately divide up the country and go our separate ways. We would both, after all, like being unique non-conformists–which doesn’t work with your double standing there. And as for the opposite sex deal–well, let’s put it this way. My brother is sort of the male version of me and… ICK! ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/34 "2003-11-01T15:40:08Z")
I’d partner myself at bridge. ---
**Author:** ![PurplePerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PurplePerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurplePerson)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/35 "2003-11-01T16:27:09Z")
I wouldn’t like her. I can’t fix me, no matter how hard I try, so I know I wouldn’t like her. Here is a saying I found that hits me: If I tell you who I am, You may not like who I am, And it is all that I have. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/36 "2003-11-01T17:01:54Z")
One, or both, of us would be dead by the other’s hand within 10 minutes. I frankly don’t know how other people stand me; that, coupled with my impatience, would spell the end of one of us rather quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Sat\_on\_Cookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@Sat\_on\_Cookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sat_on_Cookie)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/37 "2003-11-01T17:40:48Z")
A few years ago (actually maybe like 6) a new guy started at the company where I worked. We hit it off INSTANTLY. I mean, the day I met him, we went to lunch, dinner and a movie. The very same day. I was an office manager at the point so I was kind of responsible for getting him settled, which is why we talked in the first place. Anyway, like the next day (after the first day) we figured out that we had the exact same birthday. Same hour of day, same day, same year. It was really cool at first simply because it was freakish how alike we were - same sense of humor, same idiosyncrasies. THEN, it got to be too weird. There are parts of myself that I certainly don’t like and because we were alike in so many other ways, I would assume he had all my “evil” qualities as well. Major transference going on. It was a very odd experience and the closest I have ever come to dating/being friends w/myself. Overall, though, we had a really great time together and giggled like schoolgirls 90% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Niggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Niggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niggle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/38 "2003-11-01T18:24:52Z")
I’d love to date/live with/marry a female version of me. At least I would know I rely on her 100%. I don’t think there would ever be a problem with getting bored. Just because you’re the same person in all ways doesn’t mean you have the same experiences. Also, just think about how great it would be to learn new things about the world with someone who can understand them in the same way as you. That’d be awesome. Plus, I’m dead sexy. -n ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/39 "2003-11-01T19:13:05Z")
We’d band together to find out who cloned us and bash his/her head in. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760/40 "2003-11-01T19:50:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loneraven \* > \*\* > Can I pose a slight variant to this question? Say you met someone who was _you_, mentally and emotionally, but didn’t _look_ like you. How long before you realise that the other person is actually you? > > I think I’d need quite some time to figure it out. \*\* I think if there weren’t any other people around, I might not recognize the other peson at first glance, even if she and I were identical. Whenever I see myself in a photograph, I’m always surprised at how I look. Maybe my face is subtly asymmetric, so that the way I look in a mirror is actually really different from how I really look or something–or when I’m looking in a mirror I’m, like, looking for stray eyebrow hairs and zits and checking out my gums or something, so I rarely look at myself, really. To answer the original question, I think I’d get along okay with myself, but I don’t know if we’d really become good friends. What I tend to prize about my close friends is our differences. Mary Shelley wrote in the preface to Frankenstein: “We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves–such a friend ought to be–do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures.” I would have a hard time admiring someone who shared all my faults. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-met-yourself-would-you-be-friends-or-kill-each-other/210760.md?page=3)