Here’s a reflective question…
Everyone in the world seems to be comfortable with the fact that mirrors somehow reflect what is in front of them, reversing the image in the process. I have tried, to no avail, to wrap my brain around the concept. The thing which prevents my understanding is: How come mirrors reverse right-to-left, but not top-to-bottom? Cecil, please help me!!
Seth Dimbert
Kansas City, KS
Cecil answered this question, Seth. I do not find it in the archives, hoever, it is in one of his books.
Yer pal,
Satan
First Place
Most Popular Poster of the 20th Century Competition
As overseen by Coldfire
Cecil’s answer, IIRC, was that it was all in the perception.
To elaborate with an explanation I’ve used a couple of times, mirrors don’t really reverse either up & down or left & right.
Imagine a mirror hanging on a wall. In the same room, a doorway is to your left as you look at the mirror, and a small window is to your right. The ceiling, naturally, is above you, and the floor below.
Now shake your head. Is your head closer to the ceiling or the floor? The ceiling you say? Was your reflection’s head closer to the ceiling or the floor? Also the ceiling? Then there was no reversal of up and down.
Now lift your arm which is closest to the door. Which arm does your reflection raise, the one closest to the door or to the window? Obviously, it will be the one closest to the door. So no reversal of left and right either.
The problem is, you are thinking of your reflection as another person, and when a person facing you raises the hand on the same side of the room as you do, this is their opposite hand (right for left or left for right.
The reality is, however, that with a flat mirror, the scene is reflected exactly as it is, with no reversal up & down or side to side.
Ugly
A mirror does not reverse things left/right. You are just used to looking at a person facing you. That person’s body is rotated 180 degrees from you, so his right hand is on your left side.
A mirror reflects an image; it does not rotate it. The right hand on the reflected image is still on your right side. Everything on the right is still on the right. There is no left/right shift; just no 180 rotation.
Here’s one of Cecil’s columns on mirrors and image reversal: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_082.html
I’m sure there’s one about right-left but not up-down, but I haven’t found it yet… damn this search engine.
Wow - Answers that are well-explained and quick! Impressive…
The problem is only that, as with most good questions, the asnwers pale when compared. At the risk of opening a can of worms, Questions are usually better than their Answers, aren’t they?
I could see this either way.
Your image in the mirror is ‘reversed’ in the sense that it is backwards of how everyone else sees you.
Your image is not reversed in the sense that for someone looking in the same direction as you, the image is appropriate (when you raise your right hand, the right hand goes up in the mirror - someone standing behind you and you yourself would find it entirely appropriate). Physically, the image is not reversed either.
If you really want a mind bend, stand facing the intersection of two mirrors that meet at 90 degrees. Now alternate raising and lowering each arm at the elbow.
If you’re drunk or high, the effect is enhanced. I discovered this at about age 16.
VB
TANSTAAFL!
Dont try this mirror trick when high, you need your full coordination available to you.
Clear a room of its furniture ( it also works
outside in a wide open space) hold a large mirror reflecting upwards at 90 degrees to your body… and then try walking around while
looking directly into the mirror.
be VERY careful while doing this.
but it can be fun…
In a science center, I once saw a mirror that reflects you as other people see you. The trick was two mirrors at a 90 degree angle to each other, and you looked at the “mirror” straight in the join, at a 45 degree angle to both.
Very creepy and unreal looking, especially since you know that a person looking at you would see little difference in your appearance between a flat mirror and this special mirror. It’s that you’re so used to seeing yourself “reversed”.
Never attribute to an -ism anything more easily explained by common, human stupidity.
Hansel
Except, of course, in photographs.
Maybe that’s why no one likes their drivers license photo.
.
And now for a reflexive question:
That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.
By the way, for those interested in novelty items, try the “true mirror.”
http://www.truemirror.com/
disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the company in any shape or form.