Don't read this fascinating thread and don't think of a red stop sign

Don't read this fascinating thread... it's all about language and how we process language in the brain. Covert hypnosis folk like Igor Ledchowski talks about how our brain cannot process negative statements in a very good way.

Don't think of a red stop sign. Don't think of a dog not chasing a cat. Don't think about being more happy than you've ever been in your life. Don't think that politicians lie. Don't think...

You have to think of the stop sign to understand the sentence, it's impossible to think of a dog not chasing a cat, when you do so you might see a dog chasing a cat with a big X across the image or a dog sitting down away from the cat but you have to see the chase at the very start of the thought process.

www.sciencedaily.com... - from this thread "Vitamins and proteins aren't very bad for your health" and then the reader has to decode the message. Many know the classic example 'don't touch the red button' and what do we want to do?!?

It's the difference between saying 'I don't feel bad' and 'I feel good'. So if you are ill it's much better to use self-talk like 'I'm not happy' and 'I'm not feeling well'. The brain has to decode the message I don't feel bad but it only makes one feel worse because the brain has to understand what bad means. Saying 'I don't feel good' is a very elegant way of tricking the brain to make yourself feel better about yourself.

ATS readers seem very intelligent for the most part and I would love some feedback on this issue, it's not really a conspiracy in itself but does open up a whole can of worms so to speak. In the UK successive governments have carried health messages like don't smoke and don't do x but for our brain to understand the issue we have to imagine what it's like to smoke or X.

It's a fascinating area to look at and I don't want replies that are well thought-out and insightful (see what I did there).

All thoughts are welcome, peace

So reverse psychology? It tends to work, in some situations. It didn't in this one. Believe the opposite is true. I won't mind.

Yeah, I failed. I read this and I thought of a red stop sign...

Then I thought of a dog chasing a cat!

Just rebellious I guess!

I think the MSM uses this technique a lot.

Don't be racist
Don't worry about the economy
Just say No to drugs

I didn't think of a red stop sign I thought of a green go sign

then I thought of a cat chasing a dog


clearly I don't get get, and I feel fine

Nobody tells me what to do!

I will read this fascinating thread if I want to, just not right now, but as soon as the Staff comes along and has the title changed to a more inviting one I will!

Hey could you send me a U2U and tell me what the thread is about in the meantime?

Thanks!

Originally posted by yyyyyyyyyy

It's the difference between saying 'I don't feel bad' and 'I feel good'. So if you are ill it's much better to use self-talk like 'I'm not happy' and 'I'm not feeling well'. The brain has to decode the message I don't feel bad but it only makes one feel worse because the brain has to understand what bad means. Saying 'I don't feel good' is a very elegant way of tricking the brain to make yourself feel better about yourself.

I do not believe this works. Saying I don't feel good cannot trick the brain to feel better because it's still a negative. It may be that the brain uses less processing power to understand this but in the long run you are still dwelling on negative feelings which makes you feel bad.

Saying something like I feel Great. Everything is Wonderful when you feel bad will help you to feel better according to the Law of Attraction. Like attracts like.

I just cannot understand how " I don't feel good" is positive enough.

Okay, I didn't do either.

reply to post by Daughter2


I think you really understood the meat of the thread. The MSM (amongst others) seems to use this technique but not for good purposes. This is where the posts can get a bit more conspiratorial, I am thinking of secret black ops of the 1960's where the CIA researched a lot (?) into mind control techniques and the precursors to NLP. Who knows where the rabbit hole leads to with this, it seems the CIA/security apparatus is closely linked to the MSM which clearly has a propaganda element. I've been looking at the 're-active brain' theory, basically there is a part of the brain that reacts to stimulus (that much is obvious...well duh... until it was pointed out to me) but the stimulus we get in the MSM mostly of a distracting nature

reply to post by 547000


Please please please tell me what exactly you did think of in this case - I am far past the 'I am right' paradigm and would be really interested in how your brain processed the info, by saying you did neither you are implying that you did both or else how would you know you did neither? I would really like a bit more detail to your reply.

I didn't think of a red stop sign and I didn't read any of the other posts. I mainly thought about waltzing in this thread and posting about it. I resisted the urge to read anything before I posted.

[edit on 16-8-2010 by 547000]

It's clear though that you HAVE to think of the red stop sign when you read this thread. You are thinking, "Don't think about this," and so you have to think about not thinking about it. But when you are thinking about not thinking about it, you think about it because you are thinking about not thinking about it... anyways. Yeah, this was a very thought provoking thread! I often think about this kind of stuff.

I had a buddy who would say things like, picture F#/k//ing
( doing) your grandma.

Ewwwwww,

Dam, you got me I would say.

Messed up, you are.

Yes, words always paint pictures in the head.

Try to think without them.

Good luck!!!

I was too busy thinking about something else to think about a stop sign.

reply to post by yyyyyyyyyy


Once i read the title i think i told myself to start thinking backwards.

When i read do chasing cat i seen a cat chasing a dog in my head. Weird.


[edit on 16-8-2010 by lucidclouds]

While I read the thread, I I only heard the auditory words red stop sign in my head and did not visualize one. However it made think about things you are not supposed to think about and I lost The Game.

Ask any one who is trying to quit smoking. Those anti-smoking commercials are the biggest enticement to go have a cigarette

Interesting how many rebels we have here.

"Don't read this fascinating thread": I read the title only before posting, which I believe is not actually the thread.

and

"Don't think of a red stop sign": I thought of the concept of not thinking of a red stop sign, which actually involved no concepts of concrete objects, only metaconcepts.

pwnd

I will not post a reply. I will not reply. I will reply.

Dang it!

Why do I get the feeling someone just watched Inception ?

Thats ok though, take what you hear/see/read, then run with it.

If Im feeling sick, and I say "i dont feel so well", it really means, I feel like dog crap.
My mind doesnt have a problem of knowing when it is hurting because of how I decide to relay that message to others.
Sometimes it just hurts so bad, you dont have the words to describe it.