Abe - insane! So disturbed right now. I'v enever seen such extreme cases, and to think this is being done right now all the time.

The odd thing is, when you roll back and forth over the images, and the unretouched image looks unreal. It's like your mindreally doesn't want to accept the real thing. No wonder it's so easy for us to be fooled all the time.

Check out the blonde example, and the one called "sweater" ...

Yikes, good by reality, now if only someone could sell a sweater that really does that to people's gut.

That's a really interesting point on wanting to see the retouched as real. I wonder if it has something to do with which image loads on screen first, or perhaps we really want to see the world as better looking then it is? Perhaps some personality types see the "uglier" version as being the "real" one and others the opposite?

It isn't just in images that the retouched seems 'realer'. I do some music production, and in music, we've adjusted our hearing over time - what sounds 'natural' is in fact artificially brightened. In the studio, its necessary to conform to this if you want your music played and bought. 'Natural' recording would sound wrong to our ears now.

Even better than the real thing... oh dear.