Now everybody knows what they look like, whereas most people didn’t know what they looked like exactly for most of human history.
The details on a small patch of skin were incredible using my wife’s 10x mirror to look at a blemish on my face. But that sort of thing wasn’t possible until lately.
We take mirrors for granted. Most of us now take selfies for granted too. But not so long ago, people didn’t have a clear idea of what they actually looked like.
For the ancients, there was the surface reflection on a still pond of your face. Next came crappy and expensive mirrors made from polished metal.
It wasn’t until a few hundred years ago that glass mirrors came on the scene. Next were accurate painted portraits, but only for the wealthiest folks. Then cameras showed up in the mid 1800’s. Now most of us have smartphones that take pictures almost for free.