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A subliminal message is a signal or message designed
to pass below (sub) the normal limits of perception. For
example it might be inaudible to the conscious mind (but
audible to the unconscious or deeper mind) or might be
an image transmitted briefly and unperceived
consciously and yet perceived unconsciously. This
definition assumes a division between conscious and
unconscious which may be misleading; it may be more
true to suggest that the subliminal message (sound or
image) is perceived by deeper parts of what is a single
integrated mind.
A subliminal message is a signal or message designed to pass below (sub) the normal limits of perception. For example it might be inaudible to the conscious mind (but audible to the unconscious or deeper mind) or might be an image transmitted briefly and unperceived consciously and yet perceived unconsciously. This definition assumes a division between conscious and unconscious which may be misleading; it may be more true to suggest that the subliminal message (sound or image) is perceived by deeper parts of what is a single integrated mind.
Subliminal CIA
by Jon Elliston
Dossier Editor
[email protected]
Forty years ago, the American public suddenly faced an unsettling question: could subliminal persuasion be used to influence the unsuspecting? The anecdotal evidence seemed to confirm the Big Brotherish power of undetected commands slipped "beneath the threshold of awareness." The Central Intelligence Agency, then in the midst of a multi-million dollar mind war research program, was intrigued by the potential power of subliminal messages. Classified documents released decades after these events reveal an obscure and intriguing chapter in the CIA's long involvement with techniques of mental manipulation.
As the CIA learned, the effectiveness of subliminal communication is very much open to question. Even today, the scientific community continues to debate whether subliminals, which are messages too brief to be noticed by the viewer or listener, have any impact at all.
When the CIA peered into the power of subliminal persuasion, what did it find? The best available evidence is the surviving documentation on the CIA's research programs. These records have surfaced sporadically since the mid-1970s, when Congressional investigators and investigative reporters probed into some of the agency's notorious experiments in mind and behavior control.
A few years ago, the CIA began declassifying back copies of Studies in Intelligence, its internal journal on the history and methodology of the spy trade. At last the public can read what is probably the agency's first assessment of "The Operational Potential of Subliminal Perception." A report bearing this title appeared in the CIA journal's Spring 1958 issue.