# Distorting mirror

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{{Short description|Attraction that uses curved mirrors}}
thumb|right|Image in a distorting mirror

A '''distorting mirror''', '''funhouse mirror''' or '''carnival mirror''' is a popular attraction at [carnival](/source/carnival)s and [fair](/source/fair)s.<ref name="Lego Get Surrey 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.carnivalmirror.com/|title=What is a Carnival Mirror?|access-date=4 September 2009|date=August 19, 2009}}</ref> Instead of a normal [plane mirror](/source/plane_mirror) that reflects a perfect mirror image, distorting mirrors are [curved mirrors](/source/curved_mirrors), often using [convex](/source/curved_mirrors) and [concave](/source/curved_mirrors) sections to achieve the distorted effect.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rossing|first1=Thomas D.|last2=Chiaverina|first2=Christopher J.|title=Light science: physics and the visual arts|publisher=Springer|date=September 24, 1999|page=53|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpH1_dCT_UcC&dq=carnival+mirror&pg=PA53|access-date=2011-09-14|isbn=978-0-387-98827-6}}</ref> Because of their [distorting properties](/source/Distortion_(optics)), they are sometimes featured in fiction as a literary device, such as in [Hans Christian Andersen](/source/Hans_Christian_Andersen)'s 1844 fairy tale ''[The Snow Queen](/source/The_Snow_Queen)''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Westfahl|first1=Gary|title=The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy: themes, works, and wonders|volume=2|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2005|page=529|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JXnz9x9sO4C&dq=carnival+mirror&pg=PA529|access-date=2011-09-14|isbn=978-0-313-32952-4}}</ref>

Distorted mirrors are used as a metaphor for describing Wikipedia,<ref name=tasseri>{{Cite journal |arxiv=1310.8508 |author-link2=Taha Yasseri |author1=Anna Samoilenko |author2=Taha Yasseri |doi=10.1140/EPJDS20 |issn=2193-1127 |issue=1 |journal=EPJ Data Science |language=en |date=22 January 2014 |title=The distorted mirror of Wikipedia: a quantitative analysis of Wikipedia coverage of academics |volume=3 |article-number=1 }}</ref> [personalized medicine](/source/personalized_medicine)<ref name=medicine>{{Cite journal |author1=Mira W Vegter |author2=Hub A E Zwart |author3=Alain J van Gool |doi=10.1186/S40504-020-00108-0 |doi-access=free |issn=2195-7819 |issue=1 |journal=Life Sciences, Society and Policy |language=en |article-number=1 |pmc=7784356 |pmid=33397487 |date=5 January 2021 |title=The funhouse mirror: the I in personalised healthcare |volume=17}}</ref> and [social media](/source/social_media) which rather than reflecting society, tend to distort our perceptions of reality and [social norm](/source/social_norm)s.<ref name=funhouse>{{Cite journal |author1=Claire E. Robertson |author2=Kareena S. del Rosario |author3=Jay J. Van Bavel |doi=10.1016/J.COPSYC.2024.101918 |issn=2352-250X |journal=Current Opinion in Psychology |article-number=101918 |date=1 December 2024 |title=Inside the funhouse mirror factory: How social media distorts perceptions of norms |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X24001313 |volume=60|pmid=39369456 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-a-small-but-vocal-minority-of-social-media-users-distort-reality-and-sow-division|website=pbs.org|quote=Mark Zuckerberg has said that social media is a reflection of society. But it's more like a funhouse mirror distorted by a small but vocal minority of extreme outliers|title=How a small but vocal minority of social media users distort reality and sow division|first=John |last=Yang|year=2024|publisher=[PBS](/source/PBS)}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Commons category-inline|Distorting mirrors}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Distorting Mirror}}
Category:Mirrors

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Distorting mirror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distorting_mirror) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distorting_mirror?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.