Imagine you are standing in front of a mirror, facing it. Raise your left hand. Raise your right hand. Look at your reflection. When you raise your left hand your reflection raises what appears to be his right hand. But when you tilt your head up, your reflection does too, and does not appear to tilt his/her head down. Why is it that the mirror appears to reverse left and right, but not up and down?
The mirror doesn't actually reverse left and right anymore than it reverses up and down. it's a matter of your point of reference: when you are facing your own reflection, it's similar to facing someone else. so when you raise your right hand, you associate it with the person across from you (or your reflection) raising their left hand. but when you raise your right hand, it's still going up on the right side - even in the reflection. the idea that it's the "left hand" is based on your perception. we don't have that problem so much with your head tilting up or down when facing a mirror, since our brains determine vertical movement relative to the horizon, whereas our brains are more likely to confuse left and right when looking at our own reflections in the mirror, since you associate your reflection with facing another person (and thus their point of reference of right and left), but still perceiving the left and right on your own body - hence the confusion.
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