Re: Subliminal Channels

["Robert J. Woodhead" <trebor@foretune.co.jp>]

This will be my final note on this subject, as it is inappropriate
for the list.

Alex writes in support of subliminal seduction:

Alex, there have been numerous studies on the subject, which I
summarized in my previous email (and you ignored).  Go look it
up for yourself if you don't believe me.

My degree is in psych, perceptual psych.  I know whereof I speak.
Subliminal seduction does not have a statistically significant
effect.  If you are predisposed to see penises and breasts, you
see them.  There are ice-cubes in booze ads because (surprise!)
you put ice-cubes in booze!

Artists jokes appear in work all the time.  Apple's Newton has
several of them.  Most of the anime films I subtitle have them
in them.  It is human nature, and part of the creative process,
which is why it is tolerated.

"SS" is a powerful myth, but tons of studies have shown that it
has the same validity as "Gerbilling."  I'm not saying it hasn't
been tried, it most surely has.  What I am saying is that most
people in the Ad industry know it's bullshit.

A much more powerful effect, if you're going to airbrush, would
be to correct images so they present the right cues to the
reader.  An example would be making sure that that smiling
girl is presenting Duchenne's marker (a subtle difference
typified by involuntary contraction of the pars lateralis eye
muscle that signifies a true happy smile, as opposed to a fake
or a social smile).  See SCIENCE, Vol 262, Pg 336 for a fascinating
report on this -- learning how to contract this muscle and smile
true happy smiles can actually make you feel happy!