Why Do You Look Different In A Mirror？

为什么你和镜子里的自己看上去不一样？

王淑怡 供稿

Usually the greatest fear after a wild night of partying isn't what you said that you might regret, but how you'll look in your friends' photos. If you left home looking like a 10, those awkward group selfies make you feel more like a 5, prompting you to wonder, "Why do I look different in pictures?" It's a weird phenomenon that is making people question their own mirrors. Are pictures the "real" you or is it your reflection? Have mirrors been lying to us this whole time?

通常，一夜的狂欢派对过后最令你恐惧的不是你说了什么可能会让你后悔的事情，而是你在朋友拍的照片中长什么样子。如果你离开家时的样子是10分，那么，那些令人尴尬的自拍合照让你觉得自己只有5分，你不禁思考，“为什么我在照片中看起来不一样？”这是一个奇怪的现象，它让人们对自己的镜子产生了怀疑。照片和镜像，哪一个才是“真实”的你？镜子一直在对我们撒谎吗？

The answer to that is a bit tricky. The good news is that there's a big chance that Quasimodo-looking creature that stares back at you in your selfies isn't an accurate depiction of the real you. But your mirror isn't completely truthful either.

问题的答案可能有点绕。好消息是，在你的自拍中长得像卡西莫多的那个人有很大概率不是你最真实的样子。然而，你在镜子里看到的也不完全是真实的自己。

The mirror is a reflection. It's not the real you.

镜子里的只是你的映像，并不是真实的你

Although we're the most comfortable and familiar with the face staring back at us while we brush our teeth in the morning, the mirror isn't really the real us. It's a reflection, so it shows how we look like in reverse. Because we're so used to seeing the reverse version of ourselves, seeing how we look in pictures can be jarring. And unless you're blessed with a perfectly symmetrical face, the photo version of yourself can be even more wonky.

在我们早上刷牙时，镜子里的脸是我们最为舒服、熟悉的，但这不是我们真实的样子。它只是一个映像，呈现的是我们翻转过来的样貌。因为我们早已习惯了镜子中翻转的自己，所以看到照片难免会觉得令人不快。除非你有幸长了一张完美对称的脸，否则照片里的形象还要更加靠不住。

“We see ourselves in the mirror all the time—you brush your teeth, you shave, you put on makeup,” Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Center, told The Atlantic. “Looking at yourself in the mirror becomes a firm impression. You have that familiarity. Familiarity breeds liking. You’ve established a preference for that look of your face.”

媒体心理中心主任帕梅拉·拉特利奇在接受《大西洋月刊》采访时说：“我们总是通过镜子看自己——刷牙、刮胡子和化妆的时候都是。你已经把镜子里的模样已铭刻在心，非常熟悉了。熟悉就会带来喜爱。你已经对这副样貌产生了偏好。”

Scientists call this the "mere-exposure" effect. Basically, it's a behavior concocted by psychologist Robert Zajonc that says people react favorably to things they're most familiar with. So, when you see a flipped version of yourself, you immediately hate it or even find it grotesque because it's the opposite of what you're used to.

科学家将这种现象称为“曝光效应”。简单来说，这是由心理学家罗伯特·扎荣茨提出的一种行为，即人们会对自己最为熟悉的事物产生好感。因此，当你看到翻转过来的自己时，你会立即产生厌恶心理，甚至觉得它很怪异，因为它与你所习惯的样子截然相反。

The camera lens also plays a part.

相机的镜头也在作祟

So if your reflection isn't the real you, does that mean your ugly selfies are your "true self"? Although mirrors show a flipped version of yourself, the myth that "pictures never lie" isn't completely true either. After all, most people take more than one selfie before they find their most flattering one, and usually it takes a combination of angles and lighting before landing one Instagram-worthy.

那么，如果镜像并非真实的你，这是否意味着不好看的自拍才展现了“真实的自己”？虽然镜子呈现的是我们翻转过来的样子，但“照片从不说谎”的神话也不完全属实。毕竟，大多数人自拍的时候不会只拍一张，然后会结合拍摄角度和灯光挑出一张最动人、最符合 Instagram 审美的再上传。

But the problem might not be your angles, it could be lens distortion. Because of the proximity of your face to the camera, the lens can distort certain features, making them look larger than they are in real life. Depending on your features, if you have a soft, round face, photos can flatten your features and further distort the "real" you.

但问题可能不在于你的拍摄角度，而在于镜头畸变。由于你的脸离相机很近，镜头会扭曲某些特征，使它们看起来比现实中的更大。根据你的脸部特征，如果你的脸庞柔和圆润，照片会弱化你的特点，进一步扭曲“真实”的你。

Your smile could also be the culprit.

你的笑容也是一个原因

Everyone knows what it's like to pose for an awkward photo, like a driver's license or a passport. The photos never turn out looking nice, and they hardly look like our natural smiles. When you're looking at yourself in the mirror, you're relaxed, confident, and more likely to smile and act naturally. If someone shouting "Say cheese!" at you, maybe you're going to tense up and have a photo that looks different and foreign from the version you see in the mirror. It's best to relax when taking pictures and try to focus on something else. That tense, forced awkwardness will always translate to a bad photo.

我们都知道，摆拍一张尴尬的照片是怎样的，比如驾驶执照或护照。这些照片都不好看，而且笑容也很不自然。当你照镜子时，你会相对放松和自信，笑容、举止也会更自然一点。如果有人对你喊“茄子！”，你可能就会紧张起来，拍出的照片与你在镜子里看到的自己截然不同，让你感到陌生。因此，拍照时最好能够放松，把注意力转移到其他事情上。紧张、被迫的尴尬表情往往会变成一张糟糕的照片。

【VOCABULARY】

1. Quasimodo n. 卡西莫多（维克多·雨果的小说《巴黎圣母院》中的驼背人的名字）

2. jarring adj. 令人不快的

3. symmetrical adj. 对称的

4. wonky adj. 不稳的，歪斜的；靠不住的

5. concoct v. 虚构，杜撰，编造（故事、借口等）

6. lens distortion 光学变形；透镜畸变

7. culprit n. 引起问题的事物

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