'Curiosity Saved This Cat'
Seeing Themselves Seen:
Can Mirrors Reduce Street Crime?
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?” I think we all remember this moment in Snow White when the witch asked this. But I’ve always wondered—why ask a mirror? Why not the biggest, wisest tree or the oldest, cleverest owl? Why a mirror?
It’s fascinating how something that just reflects light particles can reveal reality but also have the power to distort it. When a person looks into a mirror, they see their mere reflection not their actual self and never really from their own perspective but from The Others perspective: “Neurocognitive findings about self and others’ face perception are compatible with the idea that in the mirror we perceive the otherness of ourselves by adopting an external perspective on our own face; when we observe our own face in the mirror, we see it as it were the face of another.”
Trust me when I say that I had my mind blown when I came across ‘The Mirror Neurons’. There is a mirror inside us. Mirror Neurons are neurons in our brain which fire up not just when an activity is done, but when that same activity is observed taking place by someone else. They are the neural foundation of empathy, playing a crucial role in how we understand and connect with others. In fact, they’ve been essential for passing knowledge and culture both across societies (horizontally) and through generations (vertically).
They are everywhere.
From having applications in a 3rd grade physics class to being used by neuroscientists to trick the brain. Dr. V.S. Ramachandran, in his book ‘Phantoms in the Brain’, has beautifully demonstrated the power of mirrors. He used a mirror box to help patients move their paralysed phantom limbs—limbs that no longer exist but still feel real.
And it’s not just scientists; clothing stores know exactly what they’re doing when they use altered mirrors to make shoppers look slimmer (and more socially appealing) than they do in their home mirrors. Which begs the question: Which reflection to believe? What is our true appearance? But that’s a whole other discussion!
Now that we have established how mirrors shift perspective, it opens the gate to the Psychological Game of Mirrors.
Studies have revealed that when sitting in a room with a mirror, individuals feel watched, putting them into a 'Self-aware State'. This state affects both their social and non-social behaviour, and has the capacity to decrease their antinormative behavior (like cheating). Further, mirrors can induce two kinds of self-awareness: public, where people conform to social norms; and private, where they are more comfortable with their own personal opinion.
Can this psychologically created self-awareness state benefit the social world and public interaction in any way? Can it reduce the unethical behaviour of people in public? Can it limit any type of crime, making the social world closer to a safer space?
Well, these are intriguing questions that are worth discussing. Let's connect and have a meaningful discussion.
Last Updated March 2025