Can you communicate with your subconcious?

By Carmen Oguike '23

Have you ever thought about the subconscious mind and how it works? Have you ever thought about how much information we passively take in everyday? It is almost impossible to comprehend just how much your subconscious stores; it retains your memories and habits and allows you to do basic things like walking and talking. Even though you may not actively realize it, your subconscious is basically a biological hard-drive and you can't function without it. Its main job is to retain content and respond to your conscious without analysing or being affected by emotion. Wordstream.com defines a subliminal message as, “visual or auditory stimuli that the conscious mind cannot perceive”. These messages have been used in ads or for self- improvement purposes such as motivational quotes and affirmations.

I first came across subliminals on Youtube, when I was recommended a video which was a trending pop song that played over a quiet sped-up voice repeating affirmations intended to alter your physical appearance. At first I thought it was a complete joke, but then, I realized that the video had amassed over 300,000 views. The comments were filled with people saying that it had worked for them and they seemed very informed about the features of these types of subliminal messages. I was intrigued then decided to search it up and watch more videos about it, and quickly learned that there is a legitimate community that regularly uses these videos as a way to communicate with their subconscious mind. The idea is that this voice that says and repeats the affirmations is made quiet and has music playing over it to prevent you from actively listening to them so it is easy for your subconscious to store this information and as a result have it manifest via your body’s conscious actions and behavior. This could be mental things such as being more focused or physical attributes like the way you walk or even your height. You may ask, ‘how can they possibly change my physical appearance?’. While some believe that listening to them correctly can actually change the way you look over time, there is little to no scientific proof of it. However they can certainly can, and often do, change your perception of yourself and your behavior.

Another way subliminal messaging is used, which is quite controversial, is in advertising. Examples of this include flashing messages on-screen for a few milli-seconds during movies and on tv, or having a particular word secretly hidden in a logo. Despite that there is no strong scientific evidence to prove that these are actually effective, many countries have made subliminal advertising illegal. Isn’t it strange to think that your mind could be being controlled by anyone at any given time?

6 examples of subliminal Advertising, FROM spooky to NSFW. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/10/24/subliminal-advertising#:~:text=Subliminal%20 messages%20are%20visual%20or,an%20altogether%20different%20message%20entirely.

Earth Lab, B. (Director). (n.d.). Is Subliminal Messaging Real? | Earth Lab [Video file]. Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1knkpPd_0dg&pbjreload=101

Tracy, B. (2018, December 12). The power of your subconscious Mind: Brian Tracy. Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://www.briantracy.com/blog/personal-success/understanding-your-subconscious-mind/