Introduction

Do you know for sure that the shows you watch are just meant to entertain you, or do the creators have something more sinister in mind? Subliminal messaging is a technique where film and other media include subtle audio and visual queues to affect your mind without you being aware. Sometimes it’s used to push advertising into your subconscious, introduce political topics to the unsuspecting, or enhance your emotional responses. Sometimes the undetectable tactics are proposed for something much more conspiratorial and mortifying. History hasn’t known is as an invasion, but there are laws against it for a reason.

Research Question

It exists, the proof has been documented; both in a scientific sense and a societal sense. It’s understood what it does to the mind and how decisions, opinions, are swayed by the intrusive technique. What is unknown is how does subliminal messaging affect the future of media and why does that evolution pose a problem to society?

Research Paper

Historically, there has always been someone to complain about the technology of the generations ahead of them. These days it is not uncommon to hear that young people depend on technology too much. Objectively, it’s a belief grounded in truth. With so many malicious folks learning to pray through the internet- and media as a whole- compliance, and trust in technology has never been more dangerous.

The healthy American adult spends 8 hours of their day sleeping, 67 minutes of their day eating, and 11 hours a day interacting with some form of media. Five years ago that number was 9 hours. Of course, this is a blanket statement, media is a broad term that can involve anything from music while you exercise to facetime a loved one. According to a study by MarketWatch, “62% of that time is attributed to app/web browsing on smartphones. Television still accounts for most media usage, with four hours and 46 minutes spent watching TV every day in the first quarter of this year.” (Fottrell). Meaning the most applicable resource for those who use subliminal messaging is still the media that is used in mass every day. Television. Each evolution in the film creates another layer of interactivity with its audience, and another depth of experience to be manipulated.

Those are types of media that are relied on for entertainment and information only, but other forms of technology provide much more important services. Allowing a device to know your constant location and believing that it will lead you to your destination is an amount of trust most wouldn’t even give to another human being. Carrying a smartphone is hoping that those who can hack into the details that it carries will not find interest in you, but it’s more common that one would think. “Almost 2 billion records were lost or stolen worldwide during the first half of this year, up 164 percent from the last half of 2016. IBM has found that the average cost of a single data breach is now $7.35 million in the U.S.” (Alang). These are companies that have layer upon layer of security. Of course, the companies that create smartphones have the same kind of protection in mind, but there will be gaps in the quantities seen today. The more trust put in phones to hold sensitive information, the more valuable they become.

These things may not seem connected, but both hackers and those who use subliminal messaging are taking advantage of the assumption that it’s safe to use technology. Imagine the implications if the subtle messages that are meant to influence your decisions began to use the evasive methods a hacker does. The more technology is trusted and advanced, the more inevitable that becomes.

Investigating the use of subliminal messaging can set a standard for what to expect in interpretations of the future, but there’s little-to-no weight to these claims without scientific and historical proof that it’s real.

Scientifically, studies have been executed that have looked at patterns in behavior in accordance with subliminal messaging. Recurring of certain ideas without being prompted by nothing other than subconscious conditioning. The subconscious mind is nearly entirely responsible for the reaction to subliminal messaging, and we can see this through the lens of researcher Ed Kazdin. In studying patients who had been put under the effect of anesthetics, he saw that the subconscious mind remains active even when the conscious brain isn’t. “The test patients a set of headphones and played a simple recording of words being spoken in repetition. Then, after the surgery, they were presented with the start of a word and asked to complete it… The words in this instance which were played were “guilty” and “proud… statistically, patients were much more likely to fill in “guilty” (Kazdin) than any other word.” If the brain can absorb information even when unconscious, it isn’t a stretch to believe it can do the same to information in peripheral. This was also tested in Kazdin’s work, in a test where subjects listened to an audio clip with letters and numbers whispered faintly in the background. While the subjects reported being unaware of the whispers, but nearly always accurately guessed when something had been said subliminally. “People say they can’t hear anything, but the information does reach their subconscious mind.” (Kazdin)

Historically, there have been countless attempt to brainwash masses using elements of television and restrictions in viewpoint. From a young age, life is seen through the perspective allowed by one’s environment, and in humanity's case that includes the view of the world shown by television. Even the mere limitation of one’s worldview would cause a mindset that is created without proper knowledge. Places like North Korea, where censorship on media has been a law for years. “All television sets and radios in North Korea are tuned in to state-run channels that only play approved content.” (Harding) Looking at the shows that are involved in that “approved content” there is an obvious political influence. Introducing children to the idea of other countries that are evil by nature without allowing access to alternative information. Desensitizing them to violence and bloodshed to withhold pity from the enemy. Surrounding someone with the same ideas repeated over and over from a young age into adulthood can create a collective conscious of mentality. It’s only by birthplace that some of us aren’t exposed to that exploitation. Or are we?

With all of the context out of the way, there’s a look to be had at the most extreme of these implications. What some may insist is insanity, and what could be the gravity of those claims.

Life is a very valuable resource, and nearly all greatest fears come from some place of losing it. It can be debated that subliminal messaging has turned the idea of death into one that is less terrifying and more applicable to scenarios where it might not be appropriate. In recent history, there has been a rash of children’s entertainment uploaded online that was discovered to be spliced with imagery and dialogue that encouraged self-harm or worse. “Exposure to videos, photos and other self-harm and suicidal promoting content is a huge problem that our children are facing today,” (Hees) Of course these videos were removed, but those who were responsible for uploading them in the first place were never found. Now, this was done on a free-upload site. It’s impossible to believe television would be subject to the same thing. How many times have children’s tv shows used death as a punchline? It’s always been funny because it’s been seen for decades. There’s no harm in these jokes possibly being a child’s introduction to the concept of death and the beginning of their desensitization. From the perspective of someone who has lived their entire life with death surrounding them, there’s no issue in providing that kind of comedy to vulnerable audiences. Though, would it be a lie to say that with every generation we become more and more luxurious with our ideal of death?

Having control over your actions is a comfort to most, but is it an assured thing that control hasn’t already been submitted to some greater force. In hearing subliminal messaging, the first reaction is to imagine governmental conspiracies that seed the minds of the masses to be distracted and convinced that their thoughts are their own. It’s been seen in several cultures before in full exposure, so is it impossible to believe it can be done cleverly. A broadcast of the national anthem in the 1960s was near the beginning of this plague of worrying theories. Between frames, there are bits of text that have to be manipulated to read. “Believe in god’s Government. Trust the US Government. God is real, God is Watching.” It almost seems unreal, unfathomable that this went unquestioned in the time. That kind of disbelief is what allowed it to go unquestioned. Would anyone believe that this was aired if they didn’t see this with their own eyes? Especially not during the time when it was originally aired, when tests of subliminal messaging provided conclusive, negative results. “Considering the social and political context of United States during the 1960s, which was characterized by Cold War paranoia, political assassinations, rebellious youth movements and dabblings with mind control – the existence of such a video is plausible.” (Citizen). This clip has been studied to reveal these messages because nowadays we can manipulate and study these kinds of videos to prove their intentions, but those kinds of advancements can be used against the masses as much as for them. These things haven’t been revealed yet, and that could either mean that its all conspiracy and madness. It could also mean that it’s hidden too well to find.

Conclusion

Possibly the most internally stressing debate that is to be had without society is being left unsaid. The manipulation of a great strength among humanity, funneling power into the wrong hands throughout the chain of command. Mass consumption can be a powerful weapon, as it has proven to be throughout the ages. Thinking that humanity has grown to know better than that is denying that the means of those techniques have not evolved as fast- if not faster- than we have. There have always been promises that these things are as real as they have been feared to be, in movies and television. Those warnings were not headed, perhaps our trust in technology should start with that imminent threat.