Mirror’s Edge
// May 14th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Interesting, Thoughts
Have you ever wondered why you tend to look better in the mirror, like your hair is perfect and you just look awesome (or maybe even better) no matter which angle you stare at yourself? Yes? No? The truth is you are not how you look like in the mirror. People see another side of you. Literally.
I’ve been thinking about this observation for quite some time since secondary school but I never had the time to formulate an ideal explanation. It’s only until recently that I had time to sit down and pen down my thoughts. Thinking back, I am really amazed by the fact that not many people have pondered about this observation. I remember trying discussing with some of my peers about this finding only to be ridiculed. I remember one of them raising his eye brow mocking, “Jacky, if you don’t look like how you do in the mirror, then how do you look like? LOL”. Still, I will attempt to dish out my thoughts on this manner.
Now. When we look at ourselves in a mirror, our image is reversed on the z axis. It’s universally known that if we raise our right hand in front of a mirror, our reflection will be raising his left. So here’s the smoking gun, when we look at ourselves through a mirror, we see a reversed image of ourselves. But when people see us, they don’t see a reversed image of us, do they? So what sense does it make for us to rely on a mirror to accurately assess our appearance?
You see. Our faces are not perfectly symmetrical. There are asymmetries. Hence when we see ourselves in a non-reversed way say through the means of a photo or a video, we might appear lopsided only to ourselves but not to others. On the other hand, when others see us in a mirror, they actually see a deformed image but to us it’s not. This happens because the asymmetries appear on the side others are not accustomed to seeing. As a result, we are more used to seeing ourselves in a mirror, meaning our mirror image, than in a photograph so our minds automatically perfers that perspective.
Our minds are naturally finding the faults in the photograph because we are not used to seeing ourselves in that perspective. Recall how many times you see youself in a photo and then asked around if you looked different. You may think you look bad in a photograph, but when someone else sees it, they don’t see the asymmetries and flaws. Similarly, that is why when you see others in a picture, you think they look the same in person. But to them, they probably don’t.
So now you know. And in case you’re wondering, there are indeed mirrors that show us our real side. They are called the “True Mirrors”. ;)
P.S. Named this post after a mind-blowing realistic first-person perspective action game of the same name.
Laters!
Signs off,
He
