“You look just like my cousin Joyce from Boise.”
“Oh, really? I’ve never seen your cousin, and I’m not saying that I don’t look like her, but I think I just have one of those faces. Everyone seems to think I look like someone they know.”
It isn’t so surprising when you realize the small number of choices Mother Nature has to choose from to develop the infinite numbers of faces that millions of people must have. 
Two eyes, one nose and one mouth. That’s what makes up the human face. How many ways can those three features be shifted around before faces start repeating themselves? How many different faces can Mother nature devise before running out of new ideas?
I should have paid more attention in my logic and statistics classes, but what are the odds of designing a face that has no repercussions in other towns and cities? How finite the answer must be to the question: how many different faces can be designed given the paltry three features from which to choose?
There could be more possibilities if the features were spread around the face in varying schemes; like putting one eye up in the left corner and the second one smack dab in the middle of the face. The nose could be located in different places on different people, causing a different appearance between folks with noses in the centers of their faces. And while there are people who seem to be all mouth, that feature could gravitate around too.
But that hasn’t happened yet, to my knowledge. Have you ever considered the miracle of all the differences in faces in a crowd of hundreds of people? In an airport, or a theater, in a shipping mall at Christmas time? I am constantly amazed by the sheer numbers of people swarming around, yet all having different faces.
These are the kinds of problems I ponder. It’s more fun than pondering politics, and doesn’t lead to as many arguments.
Or do I wonder about this issue because I object to knowing that I resemble someone’s cousin in Boise?
MorristownMemos 
Comments on: "FACE IT" (42)
YYou probably never saw th Alfrd Hitchcock TV show about an entire community of people with twwwwwwwisted pig like noses. Weird!
Please excuse my typos.
They’re part of your charm!
If I’m not mistaken, I think Picasso experimented with painting people’s faces with odd arrangements of our traditional features.
Yes: I modeled for the portrait of the woman with the eye on her forehead!
A good post, Ronnie! Thought provoking. Someone, comically, once said that identical twins prove that even He runs out of ideas! 😀
When you think of how few variables there are to format a face it is pretty amazing that there are so many variations.
haha, I have wondered about this many times
Aha, so I’m not alone???
And what about people resembling their pets? I suppose that’s another beast all together . . . 😉
That will be another blog: yours, I hope…
LOL!
Each of us has up to 6 look-alikes around the world. I have found two such faces just like mine. That’s pretty exciting huh?
That’s the story I always heard; that we all had a double. And you found two??? Yes, that really IS exciting. Maybe I need to do more traveling to find my face on someone else.
Once I had the opportunity to see the person I looked “just like.” I didn’t see the resemblance. But, the older I get, the more I see someone who looks “just like” someone else I know. It may be just the smile that’s the link, or the twinkle in their eyes.
I can tell by your photo (adorable BTW) that you and I look nothing alike. But I do believe we share the same warped sense of humor.
Judy, we surely do share that warped sense of humor. My children don’t appreciate it; do yours?
Depends on the hour or the day. 🙂 Of course, they’re young adults now and some of my warped nature rubbed off on them.
Mine think my sarcasm is terrible.
In my forties, I was the spitting image of Patti LaBelle and accidentally caused quite a few riots in the grocery store, at a Janet Jackson concert, and once at a restaurant when the great lady herself was in town for a concert. I’ve always wondered if anyone ever said to Patti LaBelle, “Do you know you have a twin?” It was fun while it lasted! 🙂
I don’t know if anyone said that to Patty. I think what they did say was, “You look a lot like Eleanor the Blogger.”
Dang. That was meant for another blog. To be honest, I like looking at people and try to guess if which parent’s nose they have.
Noses are interesting to watch, as they develop from tiny little cute ones to the bulbous ones some sport.
I am always fascinated by all the people who have the same combination of both first and last names.
If you ever find a Ronnie Hammer, it’s not me!
I appreciate your concern and must say, this calls for a political debate. None shall make a stupid comment to a writer, their imagination can leap out of bounds. By the way, I haven’t come across a smile like yours!
You’re right; my imagination does leap out of bounds. Thanks for the compliment and for your comment.
I’ve had the same thought about voices. I imagine the vocal cords don’t look very different from one person to the next, yet most voices — as with most faces — are distinct. It’s amazing.
Good point, Charles. When I met my friend’s identical twin I was amazed by looking at two same faces, but it was when her twin spoke that the real shock occurred; her voice was identical to her sister’s.
If there is one thing I love to do it’s people watch, and I have often pondered the same question… obviously I have seen people that remind me of others even to the extent that I think it’s them, till they turn sideways or something and the resemblance seems to melt away… but I do agree it is better to ponder this than politics or the future…
That happened to me a great deal after my mother died. I saw her in every gray head that passed by. But then the woman put on an expression that revealed my error.
Never really thought much about it, Ronnie, til I met my twin years ago out in Wyoming while on a fishing trip. It’s easy for me to believe that we all have a double or adopple-ganger out there somewhere. I don’t attach a lot of importance to it though
Maybe not important, but interesting. Did the Wyoming fisherman agree that he was the image of you?
It was pretty hard to deny… we both did real double-takes at first sight. It was like looking into a mirror. We even dressed (not alike) but similar. Strange world we live in.
I hope you took pictures.
We’re all related.
Hi, cousin!
Much better to wonder about faces that look alike than discuss medical problems or religious differences. I hope I don’t have a twin out there!
I used to think that everyone indeed had a double. It;s hard to imagine that with all the faces in this world there isn’t another person with your same face.
Yes, it’s really annoying when some says you like like someone else, isn’t it… my ego feels as though it’s not unique any more !
But when you think that even our thumbprints are different to everyone else’s, it’s a miracle isn’t it … and that’s before we got into DNA !!!
I am always tempted to ask them to show me the person they swear is my double. I am sure that person looks nothing like me, after all. Maybe a gesture or an expression is similar.
Faces are kinda like fingerprints I guess. I do think I have a double though – somewhere in my own town. Love your ponderings over things that are not political. 🙂
These are the kinds if issues my brain lingers on…perhaps that’s how I stave off the depression brought on by reading the real news.