tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5689865906513225949.post1475412323159638947..comments2024-03-28T03:13:28.585-04:00Comments on Beauty, and What It Means: Thoughts on a Word: MirrorAutumn Whitefield-Madranohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379314479257695986noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5689865906513225949.post-43301719407747045852012-03-20T12:35:30.035-04:002012-03-20T12:35:30.035-04:00Anonymous, I've read a bit about this but not ...Anonymous, I've read a bit about this but not a lot, and it's fascinating! Kjerstin Gruys has written about this at http://ayearwithoutmirrors.com <br /><br />I agree that mirrors have taken an important role in our lives, but I don't know how inherent it is. Plenty of blind people manage to develop just fine--with muscle control, coordination, and self-esteem--and there are plenty of places where access to the mirror is sparing at best (and while one can indeed know what one looks like through water reflection, it's certainly a different experience and not as prevalent as mirrors are for most of us in the western world). I think the mirror can be useful, and I'm intrigued by Lacan's theories of the use of the mirror in psychological development. But I don't want to overstate their utility either.Autumn Whitefield-Madranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379314479257695986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5689865906513225949.post-85807159887114690212012-03-13T18:55:49.005-04:002012-03-13T18:55:49.005-04:00I wonder if you came across the psychological unde...I wonder if you came across the psychological understanding of why humans and some animals benefit mentally from the use of a reflection. We see it clearly when we observe babies and mirrors. Mirrors teach us many vital lessons about muscle control, eye-hand coordination and most important of all, Our own self-esteem. Without discovering your reflection as a child would be denying yourself to learn and know your relation to humanity. Mirrors have always had high value throughout history. Not many other objects have so many associations with rhyme and stories.<br />Learning and knowing your own reflection builds a child's view of how they fit into their family, their world and quite importantly, it allows them to develop themselves into those all important categories. In cultures without the skill to produce mirrors, the use of water reflection is equally important for normal development.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5689865906513225949.post-55487299992848330652011-06-12T11:12:20.883-04:002011-06-12T11:12:20.883-04:00Hi Anonymous--Excellent! I'm wondering if the ...Hi Anonymous--Excellent! I'm wondering if the Arabic and the Egyptian-Arabic are the same, which would post a reasonable explanation for why the French and the French only used this word instead of "speculum"? Archaeologists insist that the mirror was introduced to France by the Romans, but this certainly makes more sense, yes?Autumn Whitefield-Madranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379314479257695986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5689865906513225949.post-50768832538992265342011-06-10T06:45:43.825-04:002011-06-10T06:45:43.825-04:00Also worth considering the Arabic for mirror - مرآ...Also worth considering the Arabic for mirror - مرآة - mir'aa. It's a derived noun meaning 'device for looking'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com