Experiment Has anyone got rid of all the mirrors in their house? Any reported changes in mental stability?

[ColdLightOfDay]

I have contemplated this, though I feel as though it would just make happening on one’s own reflection in the outside world (in windows, rear view mirror etc.) even more traumatic, due to having grown accustomed to forgetting the specifics of one’s own facial shortcomings. If so, Please let me know your results below.

 

[Insomniac]

I only have a mirror for when I brush my teeth. Don’t really need it for anything else tbh.

 

[Deleted member 8353]

I can't because I don't live alone, although I have tried, however I find mirrors to be very disturbing. My appearance doesn't matter to me anymore, but there is something about reflective surfaces that I find to be unsettling.

 

[ColdLightOfDay]

I can't because I don't live alone, although I have tried, however I find mirrors to be very disturbing. My appearance doesn't matter to me anymore, but there is something about reflective surfaces that I find to be unsettling.

That may be psychological conditioning from when it did bother you, associations like this are how we develop most of our feelings about things.

 

[Deleted member 8353]

That may be psychological conditioning from when it did bother you, associations like this are how we develop most of our feelings about things.

This is almost certainly the case, as I can't discern a tangible reason to explain why they still bother me. I remember when I would see myself in the mirror and just feel so disappointed and limited by my reflection, the emotions alone must have stuck with me even if the reason for them did not.

 

[ColdLightOfDay]

This is almost certainly the case, as I can't discern a tangible reason to explain why they still bother me. I remember when I would see myself in the mirror and just feel so disappointed and limited by my reflection, the emotions alone must have stuck with me even if the reason for them did not.

It’s much like how dogs develop affection for their owners because they associate them with the pleasure of food, it is theorised that this is the same reason babies develop love for their mothers. All love and human emotions, though seemingly profound in our immediate consciousness, are rooted in purely practical evolutionary functions - which at their core are surprisingly superficial and unprofound.

It’s called Pavlovian conditioning if you’re interested. Pavlov found that ringing a bell before feeding his dogs conditioned them to start salivating at the sound of every bell, even when there was no food abound.

 

[Spite]

I can usually deal with mirrors. Sometimes I even get confident enough to take a selfie, and what I see looking back at me is a long lost picasso painting.

 

[Mr Joyboy]

I can't think of anything more pathetic.

 

[ColdLightOfDay]

I can usually deal with mirrors. Sometimes I even get confident enough to take a selfie, and what I see looking back at me is a long lost picasso painting.

Hahah! I know the feeling! though I am used to seeing a Giacometti sculpture staring back at me rather than a Picasso painting.

 

[ValiantThor2]

Yes. its an extremely good cope.

 

[Gengar]

Well I live with my parents but there is only one mirror (in the bathroom) and I rarely look at it and yes it does help tbh ngl.

 

[PotatoTomato]

mirrors don't make you ugly
the same way a weighing scale doesn't make you fat
you should accept the way you look first and if you're bothered by it try plastic surgery
reminder that acceptance is the first step to enlightenment, not running away from reality

 

[Cuyen]

No I never tried but I don't think it will work since I know what do I look like. you can't unsee

 

[Ticcel]

I did something similar. One of the reasons I started cutting my own hair was avoid having to look at myself in the mirror at the barber. I also never look at my phone screen head on. It’s always slightly tilted so that is doesn’t reflect my face.

 

[Michael15651]

There's only one mirror in my bathroom, but I've never tried. The worst is when you look at your phone and you see yourself.