July 29, 2012
Why Do We Hate Seeing Photos Of Ourselves?
From Robert Gonzalez in io9:
You know what I'm talking about. There you are, clicking through your friend's Facebook album, when suddenly you happen upon a picture of yourself — or rather, a slightly less attractive version of yourself. The "real" you appears to have been abducted, replaced with some second-rate knock off. What gives? you ask yourself. Is that really what I look like?
Yes. Yes it is. But don't worry, there's a perfectly sound explanation for why the person staring back at you looks so very unfamiliar, even though that person is, well, you. And by the way: that funny-looking, ersatz-you in the photograph? They're actually more attractive than you think.
More here.
Posted by Henry Molofsky at 04:55 AM | Permalink
Comments
An important aspect of facial recognition has not been much studied or written about: facial recognition is a right brain function and we are cognitively predisposed to focus on the features and characteristics of the other person’s right-side facial characteristics (their right side) and to form an image (and an opinion of them) based on a projected symmetrical image based on only the one side of what is typically an asymmetrical face. We do the same when we look in the mirror but as a result we see an opposite side projected facial image (built out of the left side of our own face). No one else sees the same projected recreation we see because they are seeing the opposite side recreated into a whole face. And then, as the article rightly mentions, we become familiar with (and invested in) the visual and personality characteristics expressed on our left side while everyone else becomes accustomed to those expressed by our right side.
Posted by: Christopher Holvenstot | Jul 29, 2012 10:16:10 AM
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