Back in the 1970s students were told that if they put headphones on and listened to their lessons they would remember them and be able to ace their test the next day. Some people even thought that if they put their textbook under their pillow the lessons would leech into their brains while they were asleep. Sounds kind of ridiculous, doesn’t it?
It was also during that time that people were warned about the subliminal thoughts that were being put into your brain while you were shopping or in an elevator. Somehow messages were being put into your brain by having it embedded behind the music and advertising you hear on loudspeakers.
Many people were convinced for years that listening to certain music (especially if played backwards) projects mind-controlling messages that can hypnotize you. Is there actually any truth to this?
What exactly is subliminal learning? According to experts, it allows us to learn by subconsciously exposing us to stimulus that will put an idea into our brains. It can happen by having images flash on the screen for a fraction of a second, or by words being repeated again and again at a volume just above our hearing threshold. Many scientists have been fired up by the idea of using this method because it has the potential to accelerate learning, making the process painless and as simple as possible.
Both the United States and the UK have outlawed subliminal messaging in advertising because there is fear people will be influenced into buying something they would not normally purchase, or maybe couldn’t afford. In your personal life, however, subliminal messaging can be used to build confidence and self-improvement – like with self-hypnosis. The concept is already set in your mind that self-improvement is a good thing, so the brain doesn’t have any problem allowing these types of messages to enter freely.Â
Conscious learning and memorizing occurs through repetition and practice. Memories can be unconsciously filed in our brain for future retrieval as we sleep. It is through this process that we remember how to ride a bicycle, learn math concepts, and develop our own set of self-beliefs and confidence.
Imagine what it would be like to learn without consciously realizing that you are learning – moving your memory directly to the unconscious mind! The fact is, its possible for smaller scale skills – like learning words, numbers and easy visual data, can be received in our brain through subliminal processing, learning skills and behavior modification.
Higher learning activities, such as languages and math (high-process skills) will always require our full attention in order to process, but subliminal learning can be used as a memory tool for repetition and processing, but only as an aid and not as a singular, or the only tool.
At first it may seem outrageous, but if you understand the theories of learning, and the potential (as well as limitations) of subliminal learning, you will see these actually are practices you do every day. The concept is that same as getting a certain song stuck in your head, or a vocabulary word that you know, but don’t remember learning. You probably heard them somewhere in the background of a television show or in a crowd and it just stuck.
Basically subliminal learning is unconsciously processing information into your memory. Suppose you were to push the envelope a bit and take advantage of this particular quirk in the learning process in order to “accelerate” the rate of learning? You may find that you have a heightened memory from which to work with.
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About the author:
Ron White is a two-time U.S.A. Memory Champion and memory training expert. As a memory keynote speaker he travels the world to speak before large groups or small company seminars, demonstrating his memory skills and teaching others how to improve their memory, and how important a good memory is in all phases of your life.Â
Sources:
Science Daily – Subliminal Learning Demonstrated In Human Brain: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080827163810.htm
Real Subliminal – How subliminal learning works:http://www.realsubliminal.com/how-subliminal-learning-works