In a rectangular room, with a floor-to-ceiling mirror on one of the shorter walls, Lakshmi is standing facing the mirror. The door to the room is on the wall to her right. Fadil enters the room and stands with his back to the mirror, to the left of Lakshmi (from her perspective). There is an abstract painting hanging on the wall directly opposite to the mirror, and Lakshmi is looking at its reflection, contemplating its meaning. Yuki then walks into the room and stands so that her left side is against the wall with the door, positioning herself between Fadil and Lakshmi. She starts a conversation with Lakshmi about the painting's reflection, which she can see by looking in the direction of Lakshmi and the mirror. At this moment, Tariq enters the room and situates himself to the right of Fadil, standing back-to-back with Yuki, facing the wall that holds the painting. All four are now in the room, with a conversation in full sway about the painting, its reflection, and the notion of symmetry.

Now consider these questions: What can each person see directly in front of them? Can Fadil and Tariq engage in eye contact without any of them moving their head? If Fadil were to describe the painting without turning around, to whom would his description be most useful, considering the positions and orientations of the others in the room?
Lakshmi is facing the mirror and can directly see the reflection of the painting, along with her own reflection and that of the other two people behind her, Fadil and Tariq, since they are within the mirror's view. Fadil, who has his back to the mirror, sees the wall in front of him and the door to his left where Yuki is standing.

Yuki, who is between Fadil and Lakshmi and facing Lakshmi, also sees the reflection of the painting in the mirror over Lakshmi's shoulder. She can see Lakshmi directly in front of her and Fadil's profile to her left. Tariq, who is back-to-back with Yuki, only sees the wall with the painting on it, straight ahead. He cannot see the mirror or the reflection without turning around.

Fadil and Tariq, positioned with their backs towards one another, cannot engage in eye contact unless one of them turns around. Given their current positions, it is impossible for them to see each other directly.

Lastly, if Fadil were to describe the painting without turning around, his description would be most useful to Tariq. Since Tariq is facing the original painting, he would be able to connect Fadil's verbal description with the visual aspects of the painting directly in his field of vision. Conversely, Lakshmi and Yuki are looking at the mirrored image of the painting and, therefore, would have to mentally flip Fadil's description to match the reflection, which adds a layer of complexity to the understanding process. Tariq, with the actual painting in front of him, is in the most suitable position to benefit directly from Fadil's verbal description.