Et Capital Culture

“Mirror, Mirror on the wall. Who is the prettiest of them all?” 

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"Snow White" is a German fairy tale about a vain queen and her envy of a young beautiful princess. She possesses a magic mirror that is all-knowing. Wrapped in her vanity and envy, she seeks the answer to only one question: is she the most beautiful woman in all of the kingdom? 

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Insecure, the vain queen consults the mirror for years enjoying a daily dose of reassurance in her value, "you are the prettiest of them all." But one day, she consults the mirror and it announces that a young beauty is supreme, princess Snow White. Green with envy the vain queen goes mad with jealousy. She attempts to murder Snow White four times to reclaim what is left of her fading value. She is happy in her final attempt, when the mirror consoles her wicked heart, “You are the prettiest of them all.”[1]

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But of course we all know the tale. The princess is alive, but in a dead-like state. The magic mirror did not lie when it declared Snow White dead. It told the current truth as it appeared- a half-truth. Satisfied with the appearance of a truth she desperately wanted, the vain queen reveled in her warm delusion of supremacy. Later, Snow White is revived to full health and the queen is put to death for attempted murder.

 

Are we destined to ignore the fable’s message? At the slightest whiff of a crumbled worldview, might we like the vain queen fall into a maniacal pursuit of a half-truth? In the Praise of Folly Desiderius Erasmus writes, “our souls are so fashioned and molded, that they are sooner captivated by appearances, then by real truths…”[2] If the mere appearance of truth brings solace to madness, then why unwrap ourselves from its warming touch? 

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If we had a magic mirror...

What would we ask it? 

 

Might we, like the vain queen, ask the same question, fixated, again and again, year after year, hoping only to affirm what we wish to be true? What kind of maniacal madness might befall the minds of those, whose ‘truths’ were not affirmed? Drawn to murder? To cheat? How motivated would such a person be to fix the world snuggly into the blankets of their own warm half-truth?

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If it is your disposition (as it is mine), the optimist pays a heavy toll at wisdom’s gates. One of the wisest men to walk the Earth worried that humanity prizes the appearance of goodness more than true goodness. It begins with an appreciation of physical beauty, flesh, above inner beauty, mind and soul. He laments, “I have yet to meet the person who is fonder of excellence than of physical beauty and I am afraid that I never will.”[3] Are we to be afraid as well? Let us exchange this fear at the gates and withdraw a naked reflection. 

 

Starting with an individual. His eyes fume in the cornea with smoke concentrating around the optic disc (blind spot). Do we trust what we see when we look into a mirror or a reflection in a pond? What could possibly go wrong between an appearance and the understanding of it? 

 

In that simple pursuit we are set at a distinct disadvantage. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (b.1712) explains the odds bleakly, “The disadvantage is apparent, for falsity is susceptible to an infinity of combinations; but truth has but one mode of being.”[4] In any combination of eye, mind, glass or water, the reflection can warp and ripple. 

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Beset with the troubles of egos and shadows (Freud and Jung), are we, left to our own devices, trustworthy enough to faithfully describe our appearance to others? How about to a party of blind models and billionaires? And how fair will our descriptions of perceived competitors be? 

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The good but naive widow, Reggie, asks the protective but mysterious Peter:

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REGGIE 

Peter...Why do people have to tell lies? 

 

PETER 

Usually it's because they want something --

and they're afraid the truth won't get it 

for them. [5]

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Lies make humanity halfway paranoid. Folks 'Spin lies' and make headlines as true as the projector makes the Wizard of Oz honest. News outlets and professional commentators spin the spoil round and round knitting a lie close to the truth. A mystic hero said of such lies, “The closer to the truth, the better the lie, and the truth itself, when it can be used, is the best lie.”[6] Is there any protection? 

 

Constantly on guard to defend against the chicanery of our deceitful peers, humanity tires. how much easier it would be if the mirror reflected our hearts: 

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“...Jupiter should place a mirror in each man’s heart so that his disposition might be visible to all, man would have to be better constituted and to possess good principles.” [7]

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So we lament some more, “If all men were good, they could be candid, but as things are they cannot be.” [8] The association among humans precludes perfect honesty. It follows that we must lie. If we have to pick among the gradations of lies from white to ultraviolet, might we prefer one over another? The choice feels wrong like an election between an ass and an elephant (or a pack of hogs and a beehive). 

 

But again, "our souls are so fashioned and molded, that they are sooner captivated by appearances, then by real truths…”

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In the sanctity of our homes. Before a mirror in the bathroom, how much time is spent finding a semblance of beauty, kissing and smoldering? Based on the 'selfies' displayed online, a lot.[9] What a world it would be if the old wives’ tale was correct, “you make your face like that long enough and it’ll get stuck.” Then puckering lips and titled heads may fill the streets and the absurdity of the action will be as plain as the vanity it represents. The opposite is sadder still. A world filled with eyes casted down and heads pitched to the earth, ashamed of little more than an appearance. 

 

Why take ourselves as one-to-one patrons of glass, when we could fancy ourselves one-to-anyone through the dusty lens of a camera? How strange must the little brother of Prometheus feel for giving humanity a 'smart phone.' Gifting humanity the power of great discovery just to see it used to deceive the world, including 'itself.' 

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Election

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Humanity regulates ‘itself’ by way of comparison. Who may rule or who may be beautiful. For this reason, members of society proactively make moves to be better than their peers. There are two ways to secure higher status: election or compulsion. Leaders as well as models are elected by votes of esteem (praise). 

 

Members make up the electorate. Casually, they vote for best X, Y, or Z. Members may canvass for their election as their own personal advocate. Coalitions may do the same for one or another representative of their character, look or worldview. Despite considerable effort, the electorate is prone to scoff at obvious canvassing campaigns. 

 

People are willing to increase patronage by any means. Like in politics, the means to election can be dirty and principle-breaking. In any society, the dodgy business of socialization and comparison greets us with a paradox: “The greatest source of happiness and unhappiness, of well-being and wretchedness, of satisfaction and dissatisfaction is found in comparison with other men.” [10] Comparison solidified by reflection can be a positive or negative experience. Election results have similar dynamic effects. We take it all very seriously.   

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"All you really have is your name"

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Why not ditch your name for another? People spend their lifetime to foster a "good name." After amassing the esteem or shame of others a reputation precedes a person. If a person is held in high-esteem, then their place in society is secure. If a person is held in contempt, then their place in society is insecure. People spend their lives cultivating a good name to be held in high-esteem in order to increase their security in society. 

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Much of upward mobility in hierarchy hinges on appearing good, just and wise. Everywhere, aspiring foxes and lions craft displays of good dispositions. But if only appearance is accounted for, then warm half-truths reign with delirium by its side. Rousseau dramatically accounts for the degradation of affairs: 

 

“how, with everything reduced to appearances, everything becomes fictitious and bogus: honor, friendship, virtue, and often even our vices, about which we eventually find the secret of boasting…” [11]

 

It is the nature of the social animal to conform to rules and conventions (so long as others do as well). “Peer pressure” causes children to indulge in vices for fear of being socially ostracized. “Social pressure” causes the main of humanity to accentuate the parts of themselves that qualify for praise.

 

In showcasing adulterated parts, members leave the rest of themselves out of the frame of view. With the best parts of each member on display, a microscope-level standard develops for every part. There is no guarantee that with the raised standard for parts, the whole improves at all. Instead, people are more defined by their parts than their whole. 

 

Parts may take the form of a uniform to expedite social affairs. Members are keen to "keep up" with fashion and thought trends. Call it what you like: "virtue signaling," "performative politics" living for a purpose or being bored. The combination of fashion and thought makes for a uniform that quickly communicates, "friend or foe."

 

Wearing the uniform catches attention. The uniform helps consolidate approval and praise while also rejecting the expected sources of disapproval and ridicule. In this case, the uniform fixes the expectations of the canvassing member to a predetermined caucus of support. This lowers the volatility associated with living outside of oneself:

 

“...the man accustomed to the ways of society is always outside himself and knows how to live only in the opinion of others. And it is, as it were, from their judgement along that he draws the sentiment of his own existence…” [11]

 

Heaps of esteem excite the inception of a “big head”and “big ego.”  The euphoria received in this state is too much for the common member to resist. For this reason, honor is bestowed upon those who resist this state of mind altogether. That is, those who successfully appear to resist this state of mind. 

 

The honoree is said to be "down to earth” despite successes. Is this not telling of the social condition? It is readily assumed that the majority are not strong enough to resist the warmth of praise. Similarly, members are as susceptible to indulge in pride as in shame: dwelling in it or dishing it out. 

 

Strength and grace in success is as difficult to maintain as benevolence and friendliness in failure. Introspection is the art of honest self-analysis. The task is insurmountably difficult when members raise the opinions of others too high:

 

“we, who are always asking others what we are and never daring to question ourselves on this matter…” [11]

 

When such a state is commonplace, then the seemingly simple task of “know[ing] thyself” is confused. In seeking the self through others, tip-top appearance is paramount. If a folk is set to craft appearances in the light of what is pleasing to others, the simple 1-2 assumption-conclusion is that the bulk of humanity: 

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“have merely a deceitful and frivolous exterior.” [11]

 

Members are more concerned with the appearance of good qualities than the actual possession of them. We settle for parts or illusions that gather esteem rather than do any good. Even when good is achieved, we must doubt the intention.

 

The latest election results are in and the winner is: 

 

“honor without virtue, reason without wisdom, and pleasure without happiness.”[11]

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"Mirror Mirror"

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The closest thing we have to the magic mirror is the device in the pockets of most Americans, rich and poor, but neither the richest nor the poorest. We may ask our little pocket devices anything and in due course receive an answer. We have an opportunity to touch the outer edges of knowledge and wisdom, but I’m afraid that to vanity we ask: “who is the prettiest of them all?”

 

There is surely a diversity of questions, but they tend toward the self-centered. As it plays out on Social Media, we can imagine the question sounds more like: “who is the ‘wokest’ of them all?” or “who is the wittiest troll of them all?” Everyone is fixated on this pursuit of theirs, whatever it is, and desire for it to be validated day after day by the crowd.[12] 

 

But it is in vain. Absent contact and communal accountability, folks online don’t have nearly as much vested interest in the well-being of online stranger number 100100110. Depending on where they go, somebody ‘trying to make it’ online, is putting themselves in a virtual Roman coliseum.[13]

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Editor-in-Chief

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With the freedom to share whatever and whenever, folks reserve the right to curate an album of their picking. Playing the role of museum curator and newspaper editor in their own epic drama. 

 

Folks generally establish a profile of a (virtual) self that says x about their real self. The musician, artist, fisher, you name it, are parts of a person that are worthy of display. Similarly, people may concoct a profile that sufficiently misleads others into believing that their virtually displayed interest is real. rather than, "I'd like to show my interests to others," we may find, "What will gather esteem?"

 

The cliche is that we are always wearing a mask. The 'right' picture shared online is like ‘putting on a face’ or mask. Sedegh Hedayat’s (b. 1903) character continues to dwell on the idea of the face and mask. He has a theory: 

 

“Life as it is proceeds, reveals, cooly and dispassionately, what lies behind the mask that each man wears. It would seem that everyone possesses several faces. Some people use only one all the time, and it then, naturally, becomes soiled and wrinkled. These are the thrifty sort. Others look after their masks in the hope of passing them on to their descendants. Others again are constantly changing their faces. But all of them, when they reach old age, realise one day that the mask they are wearing is their last and that it will soon be worn out, and then, from behind the last mask, the real face appears.”[14]

 

He concludes that the “real face” appears, eventually. Whether it is a matter of contentment or time, the effects reveal the real character rather than the mere appearance of one. Idiomatically, the truth always comes out. Still, people do a good job covering it up. 

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The "Ugly" Truth

 

Endowed with intellect enlivened by passion, humanity gasps for breadth, depth and meaning. From an isolated being (uncorrupted) to a socially entrenched human being (swayed), humanity wants clarity among clutter. 

 

Egomania and pathology are inevitable byproducts of society. How might we minimize the effects? Generally, the advice is to learn how to not care what others think. It means keeping an open ear to the worthy criticism of others without falling into the five stages of grief. 

 

This same very problem has existed for millennia. The philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote, 

 

“Everything which is in any way beautiful is beautiful in itself, and terminates in itself, not having praise as part of itself. Neither worse then nor better is a thing made by being praised.” [15] 

 

There is no getting away from yourself without inviting pathology or psychosis. There is no stable happiness if all your worth is derived in the opinions of others. Rousseau asks, “What good is it to seek our happiness in the opinion of another if we can find it in ourselves?” [16]

 

A healthy measure of confidence prevents the opinions of others from soiling our thoughts and mood. Confidence is both the first cause of good opinions and the shield against being consumed by opinions. Erasmus prescribes, “everyone should think well of himself before he can expect the good opinion of others.”[17]

 

As much as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, “True beauty is seen by the inner I of the soul, not by the eye of the flesh.“[18] While there are no limits to what the mind can do to depress the spirit, confidence with courtesy and dignity is the best counter-measure. 

 

Admittedly, there is much about appearance, deception, self-perception, pathology and egomania that is asinine. The ideas are so commonplace you’d imagine that everyone would be “down to earth,” confident and happy. Yet this is not so. It has never been so. The scholars and media I quote range from the year 500 BC through today. 

 

So much can mislead us in following the simple steps to balance and (approximate) truth: our senses, others’ senses, superstition, dogma, too much doubt or too much certainty.

 

The latest instruments of discovery offer much to humanity. But humanity is prone to the same behavior as ever. 

 

Our smart phones are the "magical" devices in our own fable-like epic. Connected with the internet, a new, but eerily similar society is birthed. In a genesis of each person’s own digital self, people become what they want to be (virtually), know what they want to know and feel how they want to feel. No matter what new tool follows, the advantages and pitfalls of society remain to be confronted. 

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So, I raise a mirror and ask, “what do you see?” In the hum of doubt I await your answer. In the meantime, reflect on this:

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KIRK 

There's only one kind of woman. 

MUDD 

Or man, for that matter. 

KIRK 

You either believe in yourself, or you don't.

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