It sounds like this“A mirror shows you exactly what other people see when they look at you.”
Thinking your reflection is how other people see you
Why it feels right
The mirror is the picture we know best of our own face. It is the one we shave to and do our hair by, and when we compare it with a photograph, the photograph is the one that looks off. We never imagine the mirror might be the odd one out.
Why it’s wrong
A mirror shows you reversed front to back, which is a different thing. People see you the other way round, which is why your own photo can look wrong to you. Two mirrors set at a right angle reverse twice and show you as others see you.
A worked example
Faces are not perfectly symmetrical. One side of your smile is usually higher, one eyebrow is a little different, and your parting is on one side. In a mirror, all of that is reversed. People who meet you see the unreversed version. That is why your photos, which show what others see, can feel slightly wrong to you: they are the right way round, and you aren't used to it.
The cleanest way to see yourself as others do is two mirrors at a right angle, a so-called true mirror. The first reverses you front to back, the second reverses the result again, and the two reversals cancel. Raise your right hand and the true mirror raises the right hand. Writing reads normally in it.
One reversal makes a mirror image, two make the original again. A camera preview that is flipped on a phone's front camera is copying a mirror, because that is what you expect to see.
How to catch yourself
- You trust the mirror as the true picture of your face.
- You think your photos look wrong.
- You expect a mirror to show you the way others see you.
What to hold instead
A single mirror reverses you front to back, so you see yourself reversed. Others see you the other way round. Two mirrors at a right angle reverse twice and cancel, giving a true image.
Where you’ll meet it
- Wondering why you prefer your mirror face to your photos.
- Understanding the 'true mirror' sold in some shops.
- Seeing why front cameras flip the preview.
Questions people ask
- Is a mirror image how other people see me?
- No. A mirror reverses front to back, so it shows you with your own features swapped from what others see. Because faces are slightly asymmetric, photographs can look wrong to people used to their mirror image.
- What is a true mirror?
- Two mirrors set at a right angle, joined at an edge. They reverse the image twice, so the reversals cancel and you see yourself as other people do, with your right side on the right.