Subliminal messages - subtle messages that control your mind and behavior |
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We may not be aware of it, but movies and advertisements may contain subtle messages that invisibly control our behavior.
Subliminal messages are messages below the limits of our perception, which our eyes or mind can not perceive.
Wikipedia defines subliminal message as "a signal or a message embedded in another object, in order to circumvent the normal limits of perception."
Subliminal messages were first used by James Vicary - the manager of a local theater in New Jersey.
Resourceful James added into his movies a short Coca Cola commercial lasting for 25 hundredths of a second.
After such advertisements, Coca Cola sales in the movie theatre were increased by 57%.
The news of the experiment quickly spread around America. Public opinion was against such experiments, so he no longer carried them out, at least not publicly.
Yet, it is becoming increasingly clear that this branch of science was not abandoned, but instead continued.
Used in music, cartoons and advertisements
Subliminal messages are very popular and are used in music and on TV for the purpose of advertising and manipulating the masses.
They are all around us. You can find them in music (reversed phrases), in TV commercials, even in popular cartoons. For example, Disney was accused of using subliminal messages in his movies.
Look at the Coca Cola advertisement in the movie Lord of the Rings:
The sign written in Mordor language resembles "Coca Cola", is it there by accident?
See it for yourself - this is the original inscription in Mordor language, which should be on the ring:
How subliminal messages affect us
It is still not entirely clear to what extent and in what way subliminal messages influence our consciousness. Effect of subliminal messages can be explained as follows:
The human brain is divided into two halves. The left half of the brain is responsible for rational and analytical functions of the nervous system, while the right side - for our subconsciousness, emotions and instincts.
For example, the hidden message "anaujiram ekat" (“take marijuana” written in reverse) leaves no trace in the left half of the brain through which it reaches the consciousness of the listener.
But to the right half, that message is converted into a command "take marijuana."
Interestingly, the reason we can not oppose this message is because we do not recognize it as a message.
That is the danger of subliminal messages - they bypass our reason and give us a direct order we cannot resist.
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