The first mirror, and other existentialist conundrums...

I wonder how the first person to use a mirror reacted. It was, after all, the first time a human being could see as clear and eternal a reflection of her/himself. Sure, before that people could always walk to the pond and look at their reflections on water, or even look at a window and have a semi decent reflection if it was sunny enough. But a mirror... wow, what a revolution a mirror was.

A flawless, perfect, all-reflecting mirror. Think about it. Humans are notorious for spending their lives thinking about themselves, their existence, their evolutionary superiority, etc... Imagine what a stroke of the ego, as well as a confounding riddle, it must have been to look at oneself on a mirror for the first time.

We all used mirrors when we were babies, so we got used to the phenomenon very young. But that first time, it must have been quite something. In all logic the first person would probably have been somebody learned and rich person. You’ve got to have a lot of money to buy silver and put it behind a piece of glass. Probably by the time the person invented this, (s)he was old. Just imagine you’re 40 years old, and almost magically, you’re looking at yourself, the room behind you, the smile that’s creeping out of your mouth just as you’re watching bewildered, and the smile just keeps growing just as you watch it grow. You can see your hands move, your eyes turn, the quality of your beard, etc… Amazing. What’s the first thing a person thought, or noticed? A literary genius might come up with some great pondering question, but I’m ready to bet that one of the first things the first mirror user noticed was that (s)he had a stain on the clothes. Or some stupid, meaningless thing like that.

From an existentialist perspective, do you realize what that means? Even more than ever before, you become somebody important to yourself. You EXIST! Obviously, humans always knew they existed, but for the first time they have a proof of that. A visual representation of themselves. Imagine what a boost on the ego that must have been.

I don’t know. I just think it’s interesting. There must have been a first person to do something. And when it comes to using a mirror, it must’ve screwed up with the person’s brain quite a bit.

However; the first mirror experience isn’t quite my favourite. Think of this. This would actually be a great idea for a book; I might even write it if I find the proper inspiration.

Imagine God. Alright, imagine God is in a room, and there is no other god but God, and all the angels and demons and the rest of the divine court are gone. All gone fishing in the nearby pond. Anyways, God is alone.

Imagine God in his room, and he gets up, and takes a step but slips on the slippery floor and falls crashing head-on on the really hard marble floor. And then God wakes up a good 24 hours later, and has amnesia.

So basically, God is scratchin' ye ole white beard, throbbing red bump on the forehead, squinting around, and wondering, out loud: “What the... where the... Who the fuck am I?”

I’ll let you meditate upon that one. It would be hilarious though, wouldn’t it?, God waking up one day and has an identity crisis. Ha! I say, that would be mighty funny if that happened. Good old God...