Mirror mirror on the wall...and the face....

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/08/mirrors-cameras-and-cultural-evolution.html

Mirrors, cameras and cultural evolution

It's safe to say that everyone reading this has seen an accurate reflection in a mirror. Everyone you know has seen their face in a mirror as well.
A thousand years ago (a nanosecond in evolutionary time) virtually no one had.
Mirrors are a big deal. Elephants and primates have been shown to be able to recognize themselves in a mirror, and the idea of self-image is one of the cornerstones of our culture. Hard to imagine walking through the world without knowing what you look like.
Fascinating aside: When we see a famous person in the mirror, our perception changes.
I hope we can agree that in 2013, anyone who gets uncomfortable around mirrors, who says mirrors aren't their thing, who tries to avoid a job where they might see a mirror--that person is a bit outside the mainstream.
Cameras are mirrors, but unlike the momentary glimpse of the traditional mirror, they are permanent, and now the web amplifies them. Do you see how many people pose for snapshots? The unnatural posture, the fake smile... there's anxiety here, and it's because unlike seeing ourselves in the mirror, we're being captured, forever. Multiply this fear by the million people who might see this photo on Instagram...
No one gets tense in front of mirrors any longer. Experienced professionals don't get tense in front of cameras, either.
It probably used to be okay to say, "mirrors freak me out," or to assert that they contained demons. No longer. It certainly wasn't uncommon for cultures to resist cameras at first, and to take the phrase, "take a picture," quite literally. This resistance is also dying out and almost gone.
And yet... And yet we still freeze up when someone takes a picture, we hold our breath before we go on stage, we give away our deepest insecurities when someone puts us on video...
Mirrors and cameras each took a generation or more to catch on as widespread foundations of our culture. It's not surprising, then, that so many people fear social media. It's about us, and when we're on the hook, in front of people we can't know or trust, we hold back.
For a while.
And then we don't.

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In Valparai I heard a group of guys saying "Magane, andha pic a mattum FB la potta.. Tholanja.. pona vattu jatty potta picture-a pottu manatha vangittaan da. My girlfriend also saw that".

I heard the same things from multiple people. I too fear FB photos. I don't want an ugly pic of mine sneaking there, for the whole world to see...  I haven't exactly portrayed to the world that I am a beauty but nevertheless I don't want my ugly pics to be seen by all. Why this fear? Why should I care what others think of my face? Do I fear losing some friends? Of course my closest ones love me the way I am.. but somewhere there is insecurity lurking.. somewhere I am not 100% confident...Except a few people others don't know me... they judge me by the looks.. feel I am too old.. old enough to be having a teenage son or daughter.. I feel bad.. that all the skills I have learnt are of no use. Sure, these people are not meant to be friends, nevertheless it hurts. I got hurt when a guy called me 'aunty' at work.. a guy who himself suffers from balding. Guys so casually remark about women as if they are not living things. In theatres and malls you can see scores of guys judging women's looks and assets and clothes...The term 'aunty' to refer to a woman in a derogatory sense is so unacceptable.. I don't know why this thing bothers me. I do spend a few CPU cycles every now and then, thinking abt this issue. Why should this affect me? I am not looking for a lover.. I am not a model.. why then should it affect me?

FB photos, given the number of people who can access is, makes everyone a sort of celebrity in their own way. Just like a celebrity cannot be caught offguard, without makeup, without well done hair, we too fret and worry about being caught in a bad pose, bad hair and soggy clothes. I think FB has unknowingly changed the laws and rules of friendship and more so of dating maybe.  We form a mental picture of people based on phone conversations or internet conversations. Many a times when we meet the person, we may feel a disconnect between the actual face and the imagined face. That may even alter our opinion about the person. The freckles, the tan, the weight gain, the balding hair, skintags, dark circles, grey hair, choice of clothes and shoes - nothing escapes our notice when we see a person. Sadhguru said that it's good that the dhyanalinga has no form - like him. Else we would start judging it by the way it sat or spoke or moved.

Can we get away with the face thing? I maybe selfish to want that because I am not endowed with external beauty. But, really, for something which we really do not control, is it worth the effort we put? So many people are denied many things because of their looks. Looks can kill.. yes, bad looks can get you killed.. if you don't fit the stereotype you have to live through many things. Is it worth it? What if we all have masks? If we wear burkas as I earlier suggested? Can we then start focussing on other things than the face? 

Why does a mirror make people unhappy? When we dream about us, do we we use the same face or use a face that we like? If all of us had the option to choose our own face, which face would you choose? I've thought of it a couple of times atleast... If I think about a face, will that face stick to me?

How are today's relations? Do todays teens let looks affect their relationships? I still believe that the beautiful girl or handsome guy gets to pick more.. but is everyone given a fair chance? Why should we call fair chance when fairness itself has led to great unfairness? It should be called dark chance...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/06/07/how-the-human-face-might-look-in-100000-years/

Kwan stresses that 60,000 years from now, our ability to control the human genome will also make the effect of evolution on our facial features moot. As genetic engineering becomes the norm, “the fate of the human face will be increasingly determined by human tastes,” he says in a research document.

 Kwan believes the human face will reflect “total mastery over human morphological genetics. This human face will be heavily biased towards features that humans find fundamentally appealing: strong, regal lines, straight nose, intense eyes, and placement of facial features that adhere to the golden ratio and left/right perfect symmetry,” he says.

If we choose how we look, instead of nature deciding it for us, how will the planet look like? Will it have happier people than today? Then, we will find something else that is not in our control and fret and fume and then genetically modify that, maybe. Are we born to be discontented? Is discontentment the mother of future inventions?

Then we have this:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=you-are-less-beautiful-than-you-think

Inflated perceptions of one’s physical appearance is a manifestation of a general phenomenon psychologists call “self-enhancement.” Self enhancement is not the same as lying or deception. Lying takes a toll on the lier and people have negative emotions when they see people deceiving them. In self-enhancement people truly believe that they have desirable characteristics, they can promote themselves without having to lie. Self-enhancement also boosts confidence. Researchers have shown that confidence plays a role in determining whom people choose as leaders and romantic partners. Confident people are believed more and their advice is more likely to be followed.

 Why we cheat - especially through the internet or phone, is another heavy topic which I can read and blog about later.