A Fooled Mind

Herman Wuttudal, 1E

Every day our mind is being triggered to act or feel a certain way. We continuously attempt to perceive the universe in which we find ourselves in, but often without luck. The way we perceive the world is through a neurological (related to the nervous system) process called perception. Our mind might pick up some ideas when we walk in the park, watch a film or talk to a friend. There will be mental images coming up during these encounters. However, did you see them coming? Did you now that this would happen? Most likely no, but spontaneous ideas can be out of our control. And we met them on a daily basis non-stop.

Have you ever found yourself wondering about why you think the way you do? Has there been any moment you’ve questioned your behaviour or why you felt so miserable that other day? I’ll bet you are thinking about something at this instant, right? Maybe regarding that test you have tomorrow or that application you hope so endearing to be accepted. Or chalk being dragged along the blackboard making that harsh, piercing sound, and you therefore feel obliged to recall memories of elementary school. Or not. Thinking comes as naturally to us as breathing.

It is so that the environments we find ourselves in continuously trigger our mind. Take for instance the classic “knock on the door.” You are not expecting anyone, and you question yourself a couple of times: who is it? You open the door and it’s your mom. It seemed that this didn’t meet your expectations, because you had an idea, or the slightest belief, that something mysteriously would stand by the threshold of your door. While being aware of this, you felt a slight of adrenalin. The door is red by the way. Even though these circumstances occur to us regularly, as for being most conventional, they regulate our setting of mind. You cannot know for sure who is outside your door, but you can imagine who it is. The idea, despite what you think, becomes unavoidable. Because it’s late evening, and the contrast between the night and the colour of the door makes it effortless to spot. The colour makes us think spontaneous because of its intensity. The phenomenon of the red door creates rapid responses in our mind. We recognize this, distinguish it’s form and color from your other surroundings. It is a relatively prevailing experience, of a neurological concept.

As we were mentioning the colour red, imagine yourself this red door. What geometrical figure was that crossed your mind? Think about it once more. If it’s a square, despite for the rectangle shaped door, you are mighty correct. If not, it’s not your fault; it just doesn’t work for everyone. What red and square have in common, is that they are both acting dense, as red is a distinct and strong color, and the square is one of the most “area efficient” shapes there is. Let’s give you another example having to do with red.

Two years ago (2011) a couple from Yorkshire decided to bring their son to a centre for kids with mental disabilities. Since the parents believed that their child had a modest version of autism, they wanted to understand his relationship to colors. As for the kid he was feeling pretty excited. There they were presented to a red room. He became rather enthusiastic by the rooms color, while the others (the parents) became slightly lightheaded.

The colour itself is triggering their mind. One cannot prevent it. The colour is not responsible by itself, but the parallel between it and our interpretation; an abstract feeling that affirms we perceive the color. Therefore, this perception is determined by our mind whether we like it or not. We realised that the red coloredroom made the parents dizzy. Taking in account the boy’s reaction, he was obviously a special case. Then again he proves that everyone doesn’t function on the same mandates. Now we’ve learned that red is influencing our unconsciousness. However, for some individuals we cannot see any change, while for others, big difference.

In summary, red is irresistible and strong. It projects and brings forward emotions as happiness and exhaustion. There is a variety, but depending on whom the person is. It triggers thoughts in our mind against our will. Now as the advertisement firms are in action, I can assure you of that they’ve triggered your mind already. They are the craftsmen of deceit and fallacies. Triggering one’s unawareness is a part of what we call the Subliminal Priming studies.

Our mind is divided into three levels that we call the “selfs”*: The conscious-, subconscious-, and unconscious-self. These three levels are the ruling faculties of our mind. Firstly, the conscious-self is the aware part of our mind where we are dealing with experiences and sensations. This is where one’s consciousness takes place, though the unconscious-self actually is the greatest part of our mind. We cannot enter or fully understand this self of our mind. However, there is a way of triggering it. At last, but not least, the sub-consciousness is where unaware thoughts have the potential of being triggered back in the consciousness.

* The different levels in our mind are referred as a ”self”. It is an idea used to identify a part our mind. Example: conscious-self. The self’s are distinctive to each other but can’t be separated.

Every thought we’ve had resides in our subconscious-self. By explaining Subliminal Priming we see what relation it has to the conscious-self. A great example is when someone is learning glossary: you work hard to learn your entire glossary-list to the forthcoming day, and when it finally arrives, you somewhat forget them. Afterwards, while looking onto your fact sheet, you realise at that very moment you knew the words and that you could have done better. This is something most of us have experienced and acknowledged, and it drives us nearly mad. Not literally, though... The reason we remember all the words after the test was because of the fact-sheet, which I indeed hope you made. It triggered our subconscious-self. In other words, there was inactive existing knowledge that had potential to be activated. Therefore, you become aware of this – it’s in your conscious-self. Subliminal Priming is you recalling thoughts and emotions, while the Subliminal Messaging is the triggering process. Consequently, there is no secret that the advertisement firms are like madmen in Subliminal Messaging.

We have now “confessed” that colours and shapes have the capability of reactivating our previous experienced thoughts and emotions. It can adjust our mood and behaviour. Look up from the paper and review the setting around you. What colors are there? What shapes? Nevertheless, what is your association to such a scene? You may feel emotionally influenced some way or another. For all we know, you might not be aware of it, though it does indeed happen. We are all different, and some are very unlike most others. We create our own perceptions and relations to the world and its features.

We are the fooled mind. Tempted to act according to our thoughts and mood, treat others as what comes natural to us, and trust our intuitions. We believe that we are rational and logical beings that understand the world as it is, but we don’t. We are fond by the idea of it, though. And that is also prevailing.