How do we know what we really look like?

is a mirror the wrong answer?

I just trust mirrors. Especially the ones at amusement parks.

Every mirror does reflect differently, sure, but you have two eyes to differentiate depth as well as image. Looking at yourself in a mirror, if you can visibly see the image is distorted, be it concave, convex or otherwise, your mind automatically tells you “Fun mirror. Whee!”

On the otherhand, the picture I’m using now is the picture I used to get into FOX’s Prison Break twice… once in season 2 as a newsreporter, once in season 3 as a prisoner. It was good enough for TV, I figured it’d be good enough for internet too :)

I’m not talking fun house mirrors. The mirror at my home makes me look much better than the mirrors in stores.

when in doubt…take a picture. pictures are much more honest in my opinion.

For photography, I have one good side and one bad side I have found. Weird.

But doesn’t the camera add 10 pounds?

if it does add 10 pounds thats a good thing

Huh? Good thing? It adds 10 pounds to the 10 pounds I can stand to lose. Boo. :(

It would be a good thing, if you think you look fabulous in a picture, imagine how great you look in real life ten pounds lighter!

The question is, do we see with our eyes, or do we see with our minds?

@spargett That’s what I was trying to determine. How do I know that anything I see is at it appears. Bt that is a deep, philosophical question, best not discussed here.

Or are we really simply seeing a distorted reflection of a shadow cast on the back of a cave?

when it comes to pictures if I complained my grandma always says “how much better do you think you look?”.

the best way to test the mirror is have a friend stand in front of it, then compare his face to the face in the mirror, and see if its much different. If its not, then you can bet that you look as you do in the mirror too.

I agree with Cheeb! Cameras help and I really don’t think they add ten pounds. Video cameras and watching yourself on a tv adds the ten pounds. I’m sure you are lovely! Don’t think too much about it.

i don’t agree with the pictures idea. some people are just not as photogenic as others. i know certain attractive people who don’t photograph well and vice versa.

I never thought about that Pnl. Can I change my mind?

of course you can. that’s the beauty of life (as in..most decisions aren’t set in stone) :)

if beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, find someone who would love to “be holdin’” you!

i guess -we don’t know for sure at what we look like. we can look beautiful and handsome in the mirror or pictures or to someone else’s eyes and still don’t feel that way or worst being not attractive to others. I think it really depends on one’s standarts.I also believe that beauty is a state of mind.

I think we know what we really look like by objectively judging and critiquing our own actions.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder”
(I saw this on a shirt yesterday)

LOL, cheeb!

I feel like just one mirror doesn’t tell me what I really look like. Like, for example, sometimes if I look from the side, I realize I’m wearing just a little too much blush or that I have a few hairs out of place in the back. I like to know these things before I go out, so sometimes I look at myself from the back and sides using two mirrors.

Tiny, in reference to body dismorphic disorder. I’ve heard of this before, and it sounds like a specific disease that (it looks like) only occurs in the negative. As in, if you have it, you think you look worse than you do. So if you perceive yourself to be adorable, then you have no worries, right?

Or is there is a reverse version where people perceive themselves to be more attractive than they are?

If you have OnDemand, check the entertainment section for BBC and you might find a documentary called Too Ugly to Love or Too Ugly for Love
It follows the lives of 3 people with body dismorphic (sp) disorder, it’s a very good documentary and it really opens your eyes to understand their life and it just explains some of the treatment process (it’s a life long disorder that some people learn to manage).

Also, realize that all of the people that YOU are attracted to, have flaws as well – you obviously look past them to see who they really are. Just trust that your true friends are doing the same for you!

My mom always claimed that a certain mirror in my Grandma’s house was the most flattering she had ever seen. All I ever saw in it was a tired, dirty little kid, who couldn’t stop making faces. But I understand what you mean. All the photos of me look different from the face I shave every morning.

loser: ***I just trust mirrors. Especially the ones at amusement parks.***
****************************************

that is hilarious… that is how I look, too. Loser, you are brilliant!!!

i definately through out my life have believed i had a good side of my face and a bad side. the older i get the the less i really care….

i don’t know if this is normal to just stop caring or if i’m just depressed? i don’t feel depressed but i really am just starting to accept myself more than i ever have…i love it =D

I think if we were all given mirrors that made us look like super-models, we’d all want to look somewhat ugly to “stand out.” Perhaps, we should conduct a study out of this. Take a sample of various mirrors, track findings, and compare. The mirrors that give off the most consistent reflection…well, you could conclude that that’s what you look like.