Racing Against Oneself

An upcoming horse race will face off mule clones--including two from the same DNA who were separated at birth--and naturally conceived mules. Well, "unnaturally" conceived, in the social conservative sense, given that they were produced by the abomination of inter-species sex.

The race functions as a study of two things: 1) The importance of genetics versus training and environment in raising race horses; 2) The difference in performance between mule clones and those bred through perverse, immoral animal activity.










I wonder if these two mules are aware of their identical nature. Would clones, like some twins, feel a telepathic bond, or would they feel like two independent beings, sharing no common link?

If they do feel some union, could that be an additional factor not weighed into the experiment? Surely, two human clones who were separated at birth would become fascinated by each other if they were ever introduced. Would they, like Narcissus, fall in love with their own image and become unable to function in reality?













(John William Waterhouse, Echo and Narcissus)

If so, this could lead to a very uninteresting mule race, if you ask me.

Or would they, instead, work in unison towards a common goal, like those of Homer Simpson, who collectively act to replace their genetic parent in Treehouse of Horror XIII.






















(image from Wikipedia)

Of course, either of these possible outcomes would potentially detract from the competition. For the experiment to work, it seems they would have to be unaware of or decidedly uninterested in their unity.