The Smirk that sank a thousand dreams is BIG NEWS, and rightly so. So I says to myself, I sayssssssssss........ well lets let the learned say it, then we'll take a reeeeel close look at Mitt and Company, side by side half face mirror-wise, to wit;
.... humans, unlike many other animals, may prefer some degree
of asymmetry in faces because this makes them look more distinctive or expressive.
In humans there are tendencies for directional asymmetries (consistent differences
between left and right sides of the body) that occur throughout the population.
The most prominent directional asymmetries are, however, transient in
nature and occur during speech and emotional expressions. During speech, most
people (76%) make movements of greater amplitude on the right side of their
mouth (the left side on an image, Graves et al. 1982; Graves and Landis 1990;
Wolf and Goodale 1987). These asymmetries are probably related to the greater
strength of contralateral neural connections between the left (linguistic implicated)
hemisphere and the right side of the face. During emotional expression, the
left side of the face appears more expressive than the right (Skinner and Mullen
1991). Most researchers (Borod et al. 1981; Borod and Koff 1983; Wylie and
Goodale 1988) have found that spontaneous expressions are more asymmetric
than posed expressions though the findings are debated (Skinner and Mullen
1991). These naturally occurring asymmetries could contribute to attractiveness...
Symmetry and Human Facial Attractiveness
David I. Perrett, D. Michael Burt et. al.
Perception Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland,
United Kingdom
Fascinating paper on the subject facial symmetry, but it is in the assymmetry that we find a kind of plain truth hidden in plain sight. For example
(All Romney images snatched off DKos)
We each begin to read faces as soon as we begin to focus our eyes, and the human brain dedicates substantial resources specifically for not just simple recognition but to gather much deeper levels of information regarding the state of mind behind the face we are regarding. Read in these images what you will, and if you will, please skip the orange jump-rope with me for an intriguing look at the now infamous smirk and why Peggy Noonan said she saw Nixon's Ghost.
Introducing our Very Special Guest; the Head of Richard Nixon. Looks to me like the eyes have it, Peggy.
Church Lady in drag lecturing us, for our own good of course. Now I could go on all night with Mitt, but since I am going on all night, let's have a peep at the Ryan Guy, the Veepster, shall we? Back in five.......
Aaaaghhh, now I feel all slimy.
Source.
Umm, is it just me or does anybody else find this absolutely chilling? Everyone has accused Mitt of acting like a Robot, well, THIS guy LOOKS like an artifact of manufacture. I'm going to look for one that has SOME personality, perhaps even a touch of humanity...... Ok, ewww, I found SOME emotion:
Source.
The Altar Boy and the Jock both transported by the grandeur of their vision.
Source.
Trolling through all those photos of, ahh, him, was like being trapped in a car with someone who MUST listen to Rush. It is equally unnerving to note that he is always composing his face for the camera. I wonder if he names his mirrors, like pets. I was going to include our guys here but in my opinion they deserve better company. But in recognition of the Republican Party's outreach to the Ladies, I thought that I would conclude here with Mirror Mirror look at the woman who does choose to keep company with Mitt, telling him everything he needs to know of what the Ladies have told her about the stuff they know and care about as Real American Ladies, I bring you the First Lady in Waiting, the lovely Anne.
Source.
I hope that there is some useful information contained in these images and will note in conclusion that some minor distortion in terms of scale has been applied to compensate for the narrow side of the 3/4 profile source images, but no other editing beyond that and the mirror transformations was performed. What you see is what it is. The images were chosen for context, orientation to the camera plane and for the degree of informative asymmetry. The expressions emphasized by mirroring are what a poker player calls 'a tell', and the juxtaposition of the two sides is indicative of actual conflicts and motivations driving the subject at the moment of the shutter snap, inevitably.