Why You See Monsters in the Mirror

Staring into the mirror in a dark room can play some nasty tricks on your brain. Like many illusions, this can tell us about how your brain processes images.
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[@Master_Therion]

The "monster in the mirror" for me is always a vampire. I know it's there because I can't see its reflection.

[@PaleGhost69]

Master Therion you're late ;)

[@BreakingYTown]

Message me on g+

[@kittybeans8192]

A human in my house stared into a mirror earlier, he still doesn't realize he saw me, thinks it's just an illusion... what a fool.

[@ExtremeTawe]

Master Therion tq

[@andy56duky]

Master Therion mines a kinky vampire.

[@katylyn1644]

Great, I was about to go to bed. Who needs sleep anyway?

[@microbuilder]

Freddy Krueger would like you to go to sleep....

[@BedardJ]

It’s something weird and creepy about this video that he talks to smoothly about something really creepy for me. O get the sleep thing. But every time o get scared I just say “wow that’s inconvenient” it lightens the mood. You don’t want to turn off the light to go to sleep. Well, that’s inconvenient and the monsters better bee bop outta here

[@wayofren6463]

You tapped on the video

[@devisankhla4788]

Bee bop balooya !!

[@justmia704]

Not me heh...

[@seasong7655]

If you stare long enough into the mirror the mirror will stare back into you.

[@Master_Therion]

seasong Nietzsche comment... sorry, I mean... Nice comment ;)

[@BragoTHEgraviyKING]

If you stare long enough into my neighbors window.... Brb police at my door

[@thomasthetankengine2653]

Cid Lmao

[@Coldness.1308]

"If you stare long enough into an abyss, the abyss will stare back into you" the original quote.

[@ndriiggts5108]

seasong I didn’t know that!

[@SlyPearTree]

That is one experiment I am not going to do, I do not need a new way to trigger an anxiety attack.

[@DemiDragonQueen]

I actually accidentally did this to trigger panic attacks a lot in HS

[@alexmaria5944]

Its super cool though... I do it almost nightly

[@frankieisinsane]

SlyPearTree i have bad anxiety, it’s really fun do it with a buddy

[@rio6985]

SlyPearTree cranberry juice OoF I have Nyctophobia I’m scared of the dark or what’s in the dark so I can panic sometimes but thank god it doesn’t happen a lot so I decided to look in the mirror to see the effect I was really excited and really scared lol but I only left little light bec I don’t like the dark at all then it wasn’t even a whole min and I was looking with a normal face then I saw my reflection in the mirror giving me a little smile I WENT CRAZY I was like ok no and that was my longest time looking in the mirror I couldn’t take it and decided to do it in the morning to at least not have to think about it right before sleep so as I was saying when I was looking at myself in the mirror and it didn’t even pass a min it was like 30 secs looking at myself and a small creepy smile from my reflection and that was already enough imagine having to do that for 15 or 10 mins

[@Discover73533]

@@alexmaria5944 are u afraid?

[@GradyPhilpott]

I'm happy to report that in all my 68 years, I have never stood in a dimly lit room and stared at a mirror long enough to see anything unusual.

[@MrWarthog]

When u gonna turn 69

[@nevernoxis1645]

Volvo VNR 640 this is a very important question

[@valgb77]

Nice

[@MrGold-lo6vc]

Have you tried it yet?

[@thickpurrrito325]

Nice

[@christey123]

All i see is a man in the mirror, he is asking me to change my ways..

[@lightsidemaster]

If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself then make a change!

[@jc2579]

well played

[@menacemaguire335]

Wait, this may be not a coincident. Someone else had the exact same thing happen to him as this happened to you

[@k5zd887]

christina what do you mean by change your ways?

[@Firoux23]

Micheal Jackson

[@Breauner]

So what if a monster looks in the mirror, does it see humans? Does it freak him out? If not, what would? Other monsters? Is there a version of monsters monsters call monsters? Or are those humans? Whats the distinction? I just have questions.

[@hazelstritt7848]

Breauner Omg you made my day xDD this made me laugh so much :)

[@sirdeadlock]

Made me think of this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGGph5ytj9KmfbM

[@Benjamin72297]

Too drunk can’t process

[@jo-zt7mo]

lmaoo

[@karolinedemon]

Humans are monsters

[@PaleGhost69]

The only monster I see in the mirror is myself... :'(

[@PaleGhost69]

Justin O'Brien ;P

[@gonzotown9438]

Why so sad about being a monster?

[@Iruka1991]

cuz monsters don't get to live happily ever after

[@gonzotown9438]

It depends on the monster. The hairier you are, the more likely you get a happy ending.

[@tonyblackops]

Sooo edgy

[@theprofessor3339]

Tired as hell the other night with a couple of friends over, so I started to zone out absentmindedly staring at a mirror. 5 minutes in and my face has become a work of Picasso, there are dark figures fading in and out of the corners of the mirror, and my friends have started to become quite concerned about me

[@Literallyryangosling777]

Listen to the voices

[@SebastianTheGreat]

I thought my reflection was horrifying with dim lights... but then I turned the lights on... I don't want to talk about it.

[@ogbtom]

I know im 8 months late but lets talk about what you have seen

[@sophonprak1065]

Pri Barros no you played roblox

[@kngtutt723]

@@pribarros1681 Yeah you played "The mirror" and you searched the description of the game and came to this video most of us here from "2 days" came and searched it from ROBLOX.

[@Rui88900]

@@kngtutt723 thats literally what i did

[@kngtutt723]

@@Rui88900 Then get no scoped kid

[@marer1000]

Thanks for being classy and not using jumpscare.

[@AndromedaIX]

I still got spooked when the sasquatch popped up behind him

[@AnthonyBlamthony]

Yeah because the people who were unaware of this and are going to try it are already going to be scared enough lol

[@995cool]

this does not explain the tall smiling guy i can see behind me though

[@araknidude]

Crap, you could see me the whole time?

[@dereklouden7415]

Get out of your house. Now.

[@emmethefangirl8785]

It is slender man. Get out now.

[@995cool]

slenderman has a face?

[@995cool]

he just wanted a hug and my soul. and i'm ginger so...

[@sylviaodhner]

Okay, until I saw the title of this video, I had no idea this was a thing. But now I know that my irrational fear of mirrors in the dark is NOT IRRATIONAL AT ALL!

[@lIlIllIlIllIlllIllIIIIIIIIIlII]

Sylvia Odhner I remember reading about weird stuff like 'out of body experience' techniques, one of them was staring in a mirror until you supposedly switch places with the mirrored image. Sounds like fantasy I know! Still doesn't make it less creepy though, the thought of that haunts me I won't stare too long in a mirror hahaha

[@SaintParallax]

Sylvia Odhner Well now you know that it’s all in your head, wouldn’t it be irrational?

[@sylviaodhner]

I don't think so, because what scares me is the idea of having scary delusions, not the idea that something is going to physically harm me.

[@YingofDarkness]

Glad to know I'm not the only one. If I have to go to the bathroom at night, I either turn on the lights or wash my hands to the side of the sink to avoid looking at the mirror XD

[@shaun_rambaran]

I'd stopped listening to 'creepy pasta' stories on KZbin after listening to one about a monster which always lurked just at the edge of the protagonist's peripheral vision. Never in direct sight, just always at the edge. A bit of motion. A bit of a shadow, just barely disappearing around the edge of the wall as soon as he looked up. He sometimes just barely caught a glimpse of it. Maybe. I hear you on the mirror thing. I feel like it's similar. If I think about it too long, I'm scared of what I might see in the reflection of the mirror, hidden in the background, down in the corner somewhere. Something I might just get a glimpse of before it vanishes off.

[@vickymc9695]

Poor Narcissus. Gods know what he sees.

[@Vgamer311]

I get it.

[@ono_o_o]

To be fair, wasn't the pond he looked at outside? Or did he still look at his reflection at night? I don't remember ;-;

[@kaitlyn666]

I’m pretty sure he never left the pond. Meaning he would have stared at his reflection at night as well.

[@sogerc1]

Okay, I'm not looking in the mirror tonight. Not even tomorrow morning.

[@alexmaria5944]

you should really do it... It's freaking cool

[@babyj3sus562]

@@alexmaria5944 YeAh It Is

[@DrumWild]

Creepy mirror story time! It's 1976 and I'm in grade school. One night at 2:00am, I got up to use the restroom. Afterward, I stopped and looked into the mirror. The look turned into a stare. I felt a sensation that my body was floating, but also felt like I didn't really exist. My eyes moved upward, and I saw a foggy mist. Out of the foggy mist, a net was falling over me, and the net was followed by a sharp dagger being brought down on me. It appeared to have been held by a hand. That next morning, I didn't tell anyone. Then we got a call that my grandfather had died in his sleep over the course of the night, at around 2:10am. Now it's late 2021, and I'm just learning about the Troxler Effect. What I think happened was that I stared into the mirror for too long and fell half-asleep. When I shifted my vision slightly, that's when I saw those things. It wasn't a demon or anything. As for my grandfather's death, I write it off as coincidence.

[@Sparrow420]

Oh that's why! and here I am foolishly thinking it's all the shrooms i've been eating.

[@phoenixx8963]

It's reasons like this that whenever i got to the bathroom at night, I always stare at the floor until i exit. If you think im going to look at whatever want to take my soul,you are mistaken

[@KekoMilky]

haha... I always stare at the floor in bathroom all the time when I enter the bathroom

[@nevernoxis1645]

The Chaotic Phoenixx I swear I didn’t do this until one time I was peeing while looking myself directly in they eye from a mirror (which is not directly I front of the toilet but very close) like litteraly having a staring contest and I swear to god my reflection litteraly looked all the way left while I directly was staring at it. Suffice to say the remaining pee did not land in the toilet. Been looking down ever sense that day ( Ik Ik sense)

[@afridmohammad9229]

I just run away as soon as I pee

[@Thomas48484]

Your reflection is gonna start looking at you and you don't know. So minimal eye contact with my reflection

[@woahman1720]

Never Noxis That’s like really unsettling for some reason and if I saw that in the mirror I would vomit because of fear

[@The1Overmind]

Sounds like a good plot for a carefully crafted movie.

[@meganl2952]

The1Overmind start a kickstarter

[@emilytheweirdo4752]

When I was little grown ups used to say “don’t look into a mirror at night or you will see a ghost”. I was really scared and have never looked into a mirror at night until this day just because what they said to me. Now I see perhaps they weren’t trying to scare me but telling the truth.

[@AnthonyBlamthony]

100% I don’t think it even goes away or subsides after a while either

[@jennavarley6446]

How many ppl went to stare into a mirror right after watching this?

[@vivanlosgatoslomejor]

Jenna Varley not me

[@balfourwheatley6644]

I came here after..to be honest

[@neet-noot573]

SBEVE

[@javiermercado8718]

Me. Nothing happen.

[@bonesreds3062]

I did that on acid and first it was interesting and all of a sudden my heart dropped and i was scared of the person in my mirror. I feel like its the kind of surprise fear that these women feel when they put on lipsticks or sth in a car window reflection and then realise that there is someone in the car

[@kingkiller1451]

I'm not sure I can look at the mirror in a dim room long enough for that, my own reflection creeps me out too quickly by convincing me it wants to kill me.

[@Discover73533]

yes

[@Draco-xz4yo]

Bro same

[@sooooooooDark]

its actually more scary if u do the mirror viewing thingy (in the dark) but instead of looking straight at ur reflection u look slightly to the side - like for example over ur shoulder or sideways over ur head

[@Bombay1618]

could be because rods are concentrated at the periphery of the fovea and not the center -- you're getting a brighter image of your own face.

[@Saplingbat]

Both my best friend and I both hate mirrors but for different reasons. I can really heavily disassociate when I look at my reflection for even small amounts of time. (Side effect of a bad salvia trip that I wish I had never taken. ALWAYS RESEARCH WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO KIDS) and he on the other hand has really great spacial awareness. But Mirrors in his peripheral throw that off and make him feel like there's space that isn't there and it's apparently unpleasant for him. Just figured I'd share!

[@HexIsme]

I have a thing where every time after a shower when I look in the mirror, I see myself, but less saturated, very tired, and overall dead-looking. Needless to say I don't check the mirror after a shower often.

[@Garentei]

Hex Isme That might have to do with dry skin due to the steam and hot water. Also, wet hair and greasy hair kind of look the same.

[@screeno42]

I actually get a weird version of this. I still recognize the image in the mirror as my face but it's like, not me? Like someone or something is pretending to be me, and looking my reflection in the eyes gives a bit of an uncanny valley feeling. Edit because my response to all of these replies is relatively the same: turns out I had some really bad mental issues when I wrote this. I'm better now, and I only get this feeling either on Bad Days or when I should have gone to bed hours ago. So yeah, get ya'll to a good therapist and/or bed, it'll do wonders.

[@Aralent]

And the eye contact that it gives,jesuschrist it look's like it also observe you (i know im too late lmao)

[@Discover73533]

feels like person in mirror is also staring me very scary

[@treanishajackson2295]

@@Aralent do u think it's curious or evil

[@CrowderHatingConservative]

@@treanishajackson2295 That's what makes it scary. There is no way to tell a look of hatred from a look of concentration in the eyes of a stranger.

[@piotrpytlinski8446]

I've literally had the same thing, it gave me an aggressive look

[@Kilanna]

90s: Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary 2017: Just Monika, Just Monika, Just Monika

[@lobster123burger]

Kilanna Eeeeeyyyyyy a Doki Doki Player!!!!!!

[@user-qx1om2wj1h]

What about "Justin Bieber, Justin Bieber , Justin Bieber"

[@KekoMilky]

@@user-qx1om2wj1h Then werid song will turn on

[@sethtucker3714]

伏見猿比古 lol

[@magmagon5572]

Easy, because mirrors reflect ... wait.

[@thomasthetankengine2653]

C2Lception Lol

[@onlyhuman5669]

And I oop-

[@salhb737tm2]

Oh Oh Oh no

[@Thatspunkymonkey]

Garbage? Thats what i see

[@thelastroman7791]

This makes me think about how many hidden monsters we must have hidden in the depths of our subconscious.

[@mememanfresh]

probably see them during sleep paralysis

[@HAngeli]

I did this once when I was 15-16 y. O. and I saw a lizard person. I'm so happy to better understand this phenomena.

[@chancevail8868]

Happened to me when I was 17 and staring In a mirror. My right eye turned into a slit and it freaked me out because I saw it fo from round to slit.

[@pfeifenheini]

Wow I just tried it. I'm very tired and that probably helped. It started almost right away that I looked like a very old man (I am not btw). Then it was like my eyes moved further apart and it looked somewhat alien like. It also looked a little like a skull with only the eyes staring at me. And then my face basically completely disappeared. All in all quite creepy. I will definitely let my friends try it. ^^

[@noahwilliams8996]

I saw myself turning into Dr. Kleiner from half life the first time. The second time I saw my face being stretched and pulled towards me.

[@E-Kat]

How could you see anything without any light?

[@yvesv7098]

Me too omg!The outline of my head turned black and then i saw an old ass angry dude looking at me

[@frankieisinsane]

i saw MULTIPLE me s around me and they all had black eyes

[@rokenglass5015]

Lol I had a dream once that I was in the bathroom and I looked into the mirror. I was looking at my hair cause I have like eczema on my scalp- ;-; Aight and I lifted some of my hair up and I had grey hair strands and I was like so freaked out- Oof

[@XXX3RX0]

It is a form of sensory deprivation called the Ganzfeld effect or perceptual deprivation. "The effect is the result of the brain amplifying neural noise in order to look for the missing visual signals. The noise is interpreted in the higher visual cortex, and gives rise to hallucinations."

[@XXX3RX0]

@notYourKZbin Not maybe, the Ganzfeld effect is a real thing that happens. I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to ask. If it didn't happen to you then you're not experiencing this effect. And that's probably the case because your brain is getting enough information and doesn't have to amplify the neural noise that occurs during deprivation. But that happens all the time. If you want to experience the effect, try looking at the photo in darker lighting.

[@NewMessage]

Um.. I've never seen 'things in the mirror'. I guess I'm lookin' scary enough already.

[@jessicaonymous4352]

When I was a teenager I couldn't look at the mirror when going to the bathroom at night because after a few seconds I would start looking like a monster, it really freaked me out and I always assumed it was because I read too many horror stories.

[@Discover73533]

I am a teenager and I couldn't look at the mirror when going to the bathroom at night

[@fosterrico5546]

@@Discover73533 I usually don't see anything in the mirror, but still afraid to look in it 😅

[@Discover73533]

@@fosterrico5546 me too

[@lucifeers3219]

Dont know why but whenever i go to the bathroom, i always look at the mirror. Either i was trying to see if i was looking fresh, or check if there was something else in the room

[@candyshop6634]

I tried this in my room at 1am with dim light and soon my face started to melt... It Turned black..and my eyes got at the place of my nose and literally it felt like another person was staring at me from the mirror... This actually horrified me... I won't be doing it again..:(

[@Discover73533]

me too

[@walido07370]

wait, what if the monsters we are seeing are trying this in the same time as we do it?

[@thstroyur]

0:15 And that's how you make a Netflix series, kids

[@viennajordan9279]

The monster in the mirror was me all along...

[@gentleman_oni]

The monster was all of us...

[@closier2]

We aren't humans..

[@poopoopeepee2400]

Vienna Jordan BUT IT WAS I, DIO

[@Muerrzy]

No cap I stared into the mirror and the distorted face that I saw after a few minutes turned completely dark. Litteraly every thing went dark, the shirt, hair, eyes. It was like I looked at a shadow. Then i began to freak out and then there was two big eyes on the shadows face bro wtffff I immediately stopped and switched the light on omg I'm so scared

[@WaldoBagelTopper]

I believe this. Although I haven't tried it with the lights off (except maybe as a kid playing with my siblings), there have been times in my life where I stare into the mirror too long and the longer I look, the more odd I look to myself. Like I have these moments where I think "have I always looked this way??" or "There is no way my nose was ALWAYS shaped this way". It DOES give you a weird feeling to try to "acquaint" with yourself.

[@Meganopteryx]

I remember freaking myself out looking in a mirror in the dark when I was like 5. I decided to never look in a mirror in the dark again. This has served me well.

[@rokenglass5015]

Same

[@111Cmonster]

dont mess with the mirror dimension

[@f.b.i9468]

I have a similar situation where when I see my reflection I see a blood dripping character of myself...

[@joyfreg2337]

as an artist spending hours on making a face you tend to shift percpectives on the face giving them and entirely different look or feeling when you've been looking at the same face.

[@redskies4530]

Hi Joy,I recommend a Brand New Indie Pop/Rock Song Called 'Looking Into The Mirror' By Robert Nix

[@Rujewitblood]

I often start seeing creepy faces as I'm falling asleep. It's like half imagination, but half as though I'm seeing a picture on the inside of my eyelids, like looking through a camera viewfinder. It's bizarre, because it's always specifically disturbing distorted faces, never just normal ones. I also noticed that every time I wake up in the morning and fall back asleep, I will always have a very disturbing nightmare. There is something going on in the brain around sleep

[@redskies4530]

Hi I recommend checking out a Brand New Indie Pop/Rock Song Called 'Looking Into The Mirror' By Robert Nix

[@AtrumNuntius]

Wonder why this didn't come out as an October episode.

[@obrkenobi1170]

*Implying Margaret Thatcher wasn't already a monster*

[@ostrakos4785]

/our guy/

[@talentlesshack1242]

Obr Kenobi good praxis conrad

[@obrkenobi1170]

Thanks comrade.

[@tarkadhal8344]

If it wasn't for her my home would be a part of argentina

[@tarkadhal8344]

@Comrade Dmitri good one

[@rubexcub3759]

I never knew this was real. Except if you were doing the Bloody Mary Challenge!

[@johnathanwhite4878]

The only monster I see is me lol

[@johnathanwhite4878]

When literally everyone made the same exact joke 😭

[@RBLXProd]

Me

[@Whisprify]

Going through comments thinking most of these people shouldn't be watching this, realizing I'm on that list...

[@MrMonkeyhead555]

You see monsters in the mirror because you are the monster. The reflection of your true self.

[@VenVen_tm]

Berserker stop

[@GroundZero000]

This vid was uploaded on my birthday. AWESOME!!!!

[@Tiparium_NMF]

The mirror is one step closer to the Eldritch dimension, so you're seeing the world one step closer to how it really is. If you saw the truth your silly little mind would break.

[@Elijah42069]

uh, no. is that some sort of religion?

[@Kaseus-lq7cj]

@@Elijah42069 loloolololllll duuuudeee

[@Kaseus-lq7cj]

@@Elijah42069 loooool I'm dying

[@fanaticalpotato]

NEVER TRYING THAT THANKS

[@fasiuddiin]

the best channel on KZbin so far

[@blackshadow7520]

Unpopular opinion: No matter how far Science goes, it will always have a limit and Science will fail to answer it.

[@d.kincaid3595]

So, if recognizing yourself in the mirror is an important part of the development of a sense of self, was there a difference in self-awareness before mirrors became widely, or at all, available? Many ancient mirrors were just polished metal, typically only available to the rich, and full of imperfections and distortions, and our hunter-gatherer ancestors would only have seen their reflections rarely, e.g. in a stiil pond or puddle. Has anyone wondered about this?

[@altrag]

Hah. I just asked the same question! Seems like you beat me by like 48 seconds!

[@samhansen9771]

Water is probably right, and plus, they might not be inextricably linked, perhaps they just use similar brain processes

[@d.kincaid3595]

altrag great minds think alike, greater minds think faster. Lol

[@d.kincaid3595]

Sam Hansen I mentioned "pond or puddle", which would imply water...

[@d.kincaid3595]

Sam Hansen please elaborate

[@BananaJoe42]

"Lets me do some experiments on myself"! Kinky

[@aether9061]

I have this mirror in my room that sits in front of me across the wall from my bed. My dad put it there and idk why but I havent moved it away. I get freaked out looking at it because I get the feeling that my own reflection will freeze and stare at me. Or when I stare at myself, the things around me feel full of shadows standing nearby or coming towards me. Such an unnerving feeling...

[@emmethefangirl8785]

I'm terrified of mirrors at night that's why I hardly ever go to the bathroom at night

[@Discover73533]

me too I try my best to hardly go to bathroom at night

[@Glockenspheal]

The monster is actually you...

[@ruddthree8105]

I've had enough introspection for one day...

[@J23486]

I dont like looking the mirror, I always see something evil in the mirror, and this isn't just when I've looked while on shrooms.

[@asch304]

Hank you can't tell me that you have a reason for why we see monsters in the mirror and then tell me we don't actually know why why see monsters in the mirror

[@noahwilliams8996]

The reason is whatever horrifying explanation you're thinking of right now.

[@jeralyncabaluna5819]

Can you make a video about the feeling in your stomach when you are in high places?

[@mimi-bq8ir]

Jeralyn Cabaluna its fear

[@constanzagonzalezcarrasco8851]

me:*sees thumbnail picture* me again: oh no i dont want sans to appear in my bathroom

[@simongreve]

Its because Dr Who locked "Daughter of mine" in there.

[@dereklouden7415]

simongreve YES!

[@carolineh.1925]

*awkward finger guns* YEAH DUDE

[@leafychild5179]

YASSS!!

[@ninaboudreaux7471]

Ha!

[@adforknowledge6582]

U made this video so terrific I got scared when i saw Thatcher's photo and when that creepy monster popped out from behind. 😨😓😭😭😭

[@brookeconsole5719]

I don't see any reflection when I walk past a mirror, is that bad?

[@DemiDragonQueen]

that means you're a vampire

[@ChioLee954]

You might be a Bat

[@byrellebrass7387]

I can always trust Scishow to EsPlAiN!! Because in all honesty this has plagued me for many years, I have an intense fear of mirrors

[@Discover73533]

me too

[@islanderrose723]

Your eyes are windows to the soul.

[@MurdocsMinion]

Haven't watched it, but I wanted to say, I'm excited to see that a phobia I've always had is being covered!

[@judederango4622]

Half the time I don't recognize myself in the mirror with the lights on.

[@imakememes3885]

I won’t stare into a mirror since I’ve known of Bloody Mary

[@megashley1963]

I've never heard of this, this is a thing??? I always assumed the whole Bloody Mary myth was 100% fake, not some sort of actual distorted mirror sight. I'm going to go right now and... never ever try this, it seems horrifying.

[@rokenglass5015]

Welp- I don't think it's real but the myth was You have to turn off the lights, be alone, stare at the mirror, and say bloody Mary three times. That's how you do it. But the myth actually was that if you do that, bloody Mary comes out of the mirror and scratches your eyes out. Dude I tried it when I was little lol. I was so scared. ;-;

[@rokenglass5015]

Also if you really don't wanna do it you prob shouldn't I was scared after I did lol.

[@rokenglass5015]

Yep it is horrifying.

[@uselessperson2253]

It is scary and I just did it on accident without even knowing about it

[@Mxrk_Hxshim]

It's not scary but funny.Your face shape changes from time to time and some moment I see myself headless.Great experience none the less,I recommended it

[@iamgabrielhutchinson]

How many minutes did you stare? And did you blink?

[@Mxrk_Hxshim]

@@iamgabrielhutchinson about 10 minutes,but you can see the effect less than that.I don't remember either I blink or not during that time...

[@BenieTheDragon]

2:13: You actually got her face correct. The other way was wrong.

[@maximkhan-magomedov431]

Things get much worse when one looks at self in the mirror in their dreams. I still cannot figure out why it happens: some massive glitch in perception, "monsters from the id", something else?

[@Vgamer311]

I can vouch for that. I’d really like to know why that happens.

[@rokenglass5015]

Dude I had a dream like that- I swear I looked so creepy.

[@childishbambino2024]

I did this when lucid dream it looked like a glitch

[@lukehanson7554]

I never turn lights on, so when I look in the mirror at night it's dark, and I've never noticed anything before.

[@BothHands1]

But I stare in the mirror for like an hour in the mornings while doing my makeup and stuff, and never see monsters?

[@gabrielavelazquez4560]

Exactly what I was thinking I fo the same

[@ssroudyss9432]

I don't have to stare too long to see a monster, i just have to stare

[@altrag]

This sounds remarkably like how a word can start seeming meaningless, or that the spelling of it is "wrong" somehow if you use it too frequently. Also, I'm going to assume that the same effect would happen if you stared at someone else for too long? I'm not sure how you'd setup such a study given the host of other biases that could interfere with a person's visualization of another. As for mirrors forming part of our identity.. what does that imply for history? The vast majority of people prior to a few hundred years ago would have rarely if ever had access to any mirror better than finding a pool of still water, and even for those that did have real mirrors.. they weren't exactly high quality by today's standards. Does that suggest a lot of people, especially among the lower classes, simply wouldn't have had as strong a sense of self as we take for granted today?

[@aafyr3]

altrag There's a video on why words start to sound meaningless on their channel too of you're interested :)

[@IceMetalPunk]

It's similar, actually. Semantic satiation is, indeed, caused by the neural pathways in your brain which generate meaning from words getting the same stimulus over and over, leading to a dearth of neurotransmitters -- i.e. those neurons "get tired" and can't fire as strongly anymore, leading to a loss in meaning. Just as your retinal cells getting the same input over and over can lead to that peripheral blindness. (In fact, your entire field of vision would soon go blind if your eyes weren't always moving, very slightly jiggling with what are called "micro-saccades"; this keeps the cells in the middle of your retina always receiving a slightly different image, keeping them from satiating.)

[@ALightInTheAutumnRain]

As to your question regarding looking into someone else's eyes: Yes, it seems to have the same effect. Google "iflscience stare into someone's eyes".

[@GlitchedBlox]

I'll never want to see my reflection on a mirror alone again.

[@error_d2c]

....I want that sweater.

[@fumfering]

I've never had the monster-in-the-mirror thing happen, but I wonder if my tendency to hear spooky vocal sounds after a certain amount of time listening to white noise is caused by a similar process. I've always wondered if my brain is just trying to find order amid the blankness.

[@DingDong-xd6lh]

I just tried this experiment, my eyes in the mirror started to disappear. I freaked out lmao

[@shad3revo111]

That happened to me too.

[@DemiDragonQueen]

When I was in high school, I had an intensely fractured sense of self (like bordering D.I.D.), and whenever I had an emotional breakdown, I was unable to recognize myself in mirrors.

[@ilyasssaadi9594]

DemiDragonQueen wow, hope u'r better now

[@DemiDragonQueen]

Awe, thank you! I am much better. It was majorly due to an intense, prolonged conflict between my sexual identity and my religious identity (i.e. I was a fundamentalist christian but also trans)

[@xeric1953]

Anytime someone asks me what I want for Christmas or my birthday I find that no matter how inexpensive the item, they always get me something different. Now I just default to “anything is nice”

[@lhpaoletti]

Thanks SciShow, now I won't be able to brush my teeth before sleeping today, as I saw this video right after eating dinner

[@MusiCaninesTheMusicalDogs]

This is easy. Because I'm fugly. Thatcher was fugly even if her eyes and mouth weren't upside down, by the way.

[@MusiCaninesTheMusicalDogs]

DBR Liamg What else?

[@tonyblackops]

L Galicki Band your personality too

[@mockturtlesuppe]

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure your explanation of the Thatcher effect was not 100 percent correct. I think the effect has to do with flipping the mouth and eyes, and then flipping that entire image, and when you look at her face upside-down, your brain fills in the parts that are wrong and the face looks normal to you. Obviously, they're both part of the same thing, but I think the actual "Thatcher effect" refers to the actual part where her head is upside. I could be wrong, but it's maybe worth looking in to.

[@kjailnap5959]

When I try to look at the mirror I have a uneasy feeling that my reflection is watching me even if I know it’s just a mirror

[@JustFlynn]

YOU SAID IT THREE TIMES HANK ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!

[@Perun42]

I'm discovered this effect by myself when i've be a child. It was relay creepy :)

[@zeeotter100]

Perun42 ygs

[@lazyperfectionist1]

It's a bit of a mystery to me why one would _randomly_ stare at one's reflection for _10 minutes._

[@Kyrious]

To answer the question “What would happen if I _____?”

[@Tombecho]

Now I want to tell someone with amnesia who don't recognize themselves in the mirror just to keep staring until they do :D

[@Ava-up5ci]

You should make some of the scishow finds things Project for awesome perks!

[@madvidz9819]

Well I have sleep paralysis and I’m an empath and an esp. I saw a demon at 29 in my room at my bedside after having an episode and I had a mirror up on my door at time one of those paper mirror things and a large one built on my dresser . I saw my dead dogs spirit at 20 years old after she passed away . The demon bookended my 20s . The supernatural has always followed me even as a kid. I say all this to only say lol I’m nervous doing this mirror thing. Haha . I do think spirits travel through them or can. Why I think that idk . Oh well I think that because I saw this entity leave my room and disappear toward my mirror. Creepy stuff for some . “To each his own” “different strokes 4 different folks “

[@rukayatohoku1944]

I always thought it was an enemy stand.

[@tofferooni4972]

It also works when you stare at someone else's face in a dimly lit room.

[@Benimation]

I just tried this and I pretty much saw the same monster as the image that was shown in this video. Now I'm thinking, is everyone seeing a similar "monster" or is this just suggestion?