This is why you look retarded on pictures

[phantasia]

I have some random thoughts, and I don't know where to post them, so I post them here.

I'm probably not alone with this thought, but the reason I find that you look ugly/retarded/werid on pictures is that your whole face is mirrored compared to how you usually see your face - that is in the mirror. And this is because our faces are not really symmetrical. You look odd and you'll think you look uglier than your mirror image. (If you don't agree with this, please tell me, or try to make the same observation).

Now I wonder... Others see me as I see a picture of me; the same symmetry applies. Do they percieve me as ugly, the way I see myself in pictures, or do they think I look as good/decent/bad I think I look when I see myself in the mirror (given I haven't overestimated how I look ). You get the idea.

Think about this... Basically, could mirroring your face make you more/less attracitve, or is that purely psychological and depending on how we're used to see our faces? Is it preferable to have certain symmetrical traits places in certain ways, if you get what I mean. Hehe

I can make an attempt to explain better if you don't get it.

Any thoughts?

 

[Aiss]

... do you think you look better in a mirror image of your photos?

If yes, you're probably right about differing perception of mirror image of ourselves vs identical one. If no... well.

 

[Jaico]

I think I read something about this before...the idea was pretty much what you said - you get used to seeing your face in the mirror, so if you smile on your left side, it looks like you're smiling on your right (in the mirror). Cameras, however, are not mirrors, so when you smile on your left side it looks different than what you normally see, and it's apparently a bit jarring.

But being INTPs...we're probably just not photogenic .

 

[Yellow]

I think the mirror image idea is interesting. It may explain part of the dysphoria many people have when seeing their own picture. Also, we are not all trained models. When we are in front of the mirror, we make slight adjustments, seeing ourselves, that make us look better than we do when not aware of our appearance. Not seeing ourselves at the moment of exposure to a camera, we are likely to look more candid, even when posing.

For example, I have a slight overbite. I automatically hold my mouth slightly open behind my lips to make it unnoticable. When I smile though, it is noticable (to me at least). Smiling in front of a mirror, I can quickly mask it. But I forget about it most of the time, making my photos less pleasant than when I am looking in the mirror.

 

[Aiss]

I think this is more likely than mirror/identical image idea, although that one is worth exploring as well.

I recall having read about studies that showed the more symmetrical the face was, the more likely it was to be considered beautiful. Since mirroring the image doesn't affect symmetry, its effect would only be in showing us what we're used to accepting about ourselves.

Again, a simple test would be to mirror some of your photos and see if you like them more this way... or perhaps use a webcam (if you have one) as a mirror and see how it works (apart from lower quality, that is).

 

[RubberDucky451]

Yes, there already has been a thread about this.

Forget looks, the culture we live in has evolved enough to see inner beauty. I see no need for presenting ourselves better.

 

[Cavallier]

Yes, there already has been a thread about this.

Forget looks, the culture we live in has evolved enough to see inner beauty. I see no need for presenting ourselves better.

This statement combined with your signature=Hilarity!

 

[JoeJoe]

Forget looks, the culture we live in has evolved enough to see inner beauty. I see no need for presenting ourselves better.

I read a text, that claims that our "developing" culture is responsible for lookism. Since more and more people live in big cities and there are more and more people we only meet a few times and cannot learn to know on a deeper level looks are the only way to assess a stranger...
For serious relationships looks may be unimportant but you cannot deny that fat people and people with bad looks are unequally treated.