system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are mirrors perceived as a “phantom-shade” of silver (so to speak), despite whatever the reflection is? Is this some physics trickery or is it purely psychological?
gpt
Mirrors generally don't give a perfect reflection, what you're seeing is the colour of the metal backing (normally aluminium on modern mirrors), which looks greyish when not polished. Interestingly, most mirrors are actually slightly greenish due to imperfect glass.