Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site pucc-i Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!CS-Mordred!Pucc-H:Pucc-I:ags From: ags@pucc-i (Seaman) Newsgroups: net.philosophy Subject: Re: Why do mirrors reverse left & right, not up & down? Message-ID: <180@pucc-i> Date: Fri, 3-Feb-84 12:20:05 EST Article-I.D.: pucc-i.180 Posted: Fri Feb 3 12:20:05 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 05:32:21 EST References: <537@bbncca.ARPA> <2471@rabbit.UUCP> Organization: Purdue University Computing Center Lines: 22 If you face north and look into a mirror, you see your image facing south. If you raise your east hand, your image also raises its east hand. This shows that the mirror reverses only back-front, not up-down or left-right. The confusion comes when you try to mentally superimpose your real self on your mirror image. You do this by a rotation instead of a reflection. This has the effect of reversing BOTH left-right and up-down AT THE SAME TIME. The disparity between the rotation and the reflection is what causes people to think that left and right are reversed, when in fact they are EXPECTING to see left-right reversed and find that it ISN'T. Try the two-mirror experiment which I suggested before to see the difference. This allows you to simulate a true rotation with mirrors, rather than a simple reflection. -- Dave Seaman ..!pur-ee!pucc-i:ags "Against people who give vent to their loquacity by extraneous bombastic circumlocution."