11-29-2011, 02:42 PM
Hi David - I have a question I think only you can answer. There's something that's really confusing me:
Alright, so I have a mirror set up in my room and it reflects the other end of the room which is about 14 feet away. When I stand in front of this mirror at about 1 foot from it and look at the reflection, I automatically 'assume' that what I am looking at is actually 14 feet away from me. Therefore, the objects in the reflection are blurry. It occurred to me yesterday that I am straining to see something that I believe to be 14 feet away and therefore mis-focusing on what is actually only 1 foot away from me. Am I correct to think that what is 'on' the mirror is 2-dimensional and at a single distance of 1 foot? Which would mean that if I focus on the mirror as it's own object - as though it were a painting 1 foot away from me - everything it reflects would be clear? I'm so confused because I tried to look at the mirror this way and things started to clear up for me but then I overthought the whole thing and lost it. I'm sure you'd like to tell me to stop thinking about it and just look at it, but honestly I feel like I have a habitual distance-gauge which refuses to let me see something at 1foot that I "know" to be 14 feet away from me. :-\
Alright, so I have a mirror set up in my room and it reflects the other end of the room which is about 14 feet away. When I stand in front of this mirror at about 1 foot from it and look at the reflection, I automatically 'assume' that what I am looking at is actually 14 feet away from me. Therefore, the objects in the reflection are blurry. It occurred to me yesterday that I am straining to see something that I believe to be 14 feet away and therefore mis-focusing on what is actually only 1 foot away from me. Am I correct to think that what is 'on' the mirror is 2-dimensional and at a single distance of 1 foot? Which would mean that if I focus on the mirror as it's own object - as though it were a painting 1 foot away from me - everything it reflects would be clear? I'm so confused because I tried to look at the mirror this way and things started to clear up for me but then I overthought the whole thing and lost it. I'm sure you'd like to tell me to stop thinking about it and just look at it, but honestly I feel like I have a habitual distance-gauge which refuses to let me see something at 1foot that I "know" to be 14 feet away from me. :-\