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1-Page Summary of Subliminal
Overview
How do we make decisions? Do we consider all of the facts and weigh them equally to come up with an informed decision?
Subliminal suggests that we are driven by our unconscious minds, which can lead us to do strange things. For instance, if we’re standing on a high bridge and looking down at the ground below as someone walks by, it’s more likely that we will be attracted to them because of this position.
By reading this book, you will gradually understand the answers to important questions, such as “Why do I think I am special?” and “Why can’t I seem to deal with my emotions effectively?”
Big Idea #1: Many theories tried to explain the unconscious mind but modern technology finally revealed its complexity.
Philosophers have been debating the nature of our unconscious for thousands of years. For example, Immanuel Kant believed that we create our own reality, rather than experiencing it objectively.
In 1900, Sigmund Freud proposed that the unconscious mind is often unnatural and unhealthy. He said this was due to our repression of incestual attraction and painful memories.
However, this idea did not withstand scientific scrutiny because it was mythical and irrational. As a result, researchers moved on to other areas of study. Many scientists argued that humans were like animals: complex yet predictable machines with brains like computers.
However, by the 1980s new research had re-ignited our interest in the unconscious. And at the same time new technology finally enabled us to map the brain’s organization and activity. Technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging has allowed neuroscientists to scan the brain’s blood flow changes and structure with 3D precision. From this information we can make great strides in understanding how our brains work subconsciously.
We know that the brain has three layers. The first is called the reptilian layer, which controls basic functions like breathing, eating and flight or fight responses. We share this with reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish. Above that is the limbic system (old mammalian), which deals with unconscious social behavior and perception of surroundings. Finally we have our neocortex (new cerebral) part, which is in charge of goal-oriented actions as well as vision processing and precise motor movements such as fingers or facial expressions.
Big Idea #2: The unconscious mind collects raw data from our senses and summarizes it for our conscious mind
If you heard a loud bang, your unconscious mind would jump to action and protect your body from danger.
Our ancestors’ subconscious minds were developed to keep us safe by being aware of our surroundings. This was done long before we became conscious of it. It kept us alive and helped us find food, mates, and avoid danger.
One example of this is vision. When we see, our visual cortex processes the light from our eyes. But even when that part of the brain is damaged, people can still have a sense of what’s around them without seeing it. This phenomenon is called blindsight.
For example, a man who had a stroke and went blind could still guess whether faces were happy or angry. He also navigated an obstacle course without bumping into anything.
However, our unconscious mind is not very reliable. It often confuses details and will ignore some information because it’s too complicated for the conscious brain to process.
For example, our vision is flawed. Each of our eyes has a blind spot where the nerve connects the eye to the brain. Our eyes also jerk around unconsciously many times every second. We are also only able to focus on objects in a small central area about a thumbnail’s width at arm’s length away from us. Yet we don’t notice these flaws because our unconscious mind processes information from both eyes into one steady image that we can use consciously.
