The person in the mirror.

Mirror, mirror on the wall who's the... We look into the mirror every morning. Do you like the person in the mirror? Do you speak to the person in the mirror? Does the person in the mirror respond?

Opposites -- The Mirror vs the Camera

Do you like photos of yourself? Do they look different than the person you see in the mirror?

Which image is the true image? And what does it mean? In the past, when cameras and photography were introduced into societies where they were unknown, the images that they captured were sometimes believed to be the spirits (souls) of those who had been photographed. Cameras and the images produced were often considered as some kind of evil magic.

The person in the mirror is your exact opposite.

If you like the person that you see in the mirror what does that mean? If that image is your exact opposite then do you unknowingly harbor opposite feelings about yourself? Can you like both? If you like both, then do you actually like a compromised or imagined image of yourself?

We are not symmetrical...

We are not symmetrical -- the features on the right side of our bodies are slightly different than the features on the left. Indeed if they were exactly symmetrical we would look different and probabaly less interesting. We are conditioned to view each other as non-symmetrical and we have developed a mechanism that allows us to assimilate both sides into a coherant perception. If we did not have that mechanism we would dwell on the minor differences to the point of distraction.

It is the asymmetry which makes us multidimensional beings. This flawed symmetry is the outward manifestation of inner personality. I believe that these are original thoughts. I have found no references to either one of the previous statements.

Back on topic...

We believe that we are who we are, but that is not necessarily true. We are often only allowed to be that which we are perceived to be. When addressing a group of strangers, we are given a certain amount of time to establish who we wish to be. The first impression will leave an indelible impression on the new acquaintances as to who we are and where we belong in their "pecking order."

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt"-- Abraham Lincoln

Hmmmm...

A person who wears eyeglasses and appears studious is often thought to be intelligent even before he or she speaks. A glamorous person is often perceived as less intelligent or shallow. Outward appearance plays such a strong role in the way that we are perceived that it cannot be discounted. Cultural conditioning makes us gravitate toward those who the culture has conditioned us to view as more appealing. We are more tolerant of those people. Many people feel that someone who judges another based on their outward appearance is shallow. One has only one opportunity to make a first impression. The irony of all of this rhetoric is that there are a number of people who consciously make an effort to ignore the outward appearance of others and by doing so they may actually be removing one of the dimensions of their new acquaintance and pigeonholing them into an erroneous category…

So… is it better to realize that the person you see in photographs is the one being perceived by those around you or should you proceed as though the person in the mirror is doing the talking…? Or perhaps it would be better to just enter denial mode and pretend that no one is paying any attention to your outward appearance…

This subject will probably come up again…