#125 - Let's Talk: Subliminal Learning & Influence

Your conscious mind is capable of processing no more than seven bits of information at a time but your subconscious mind knows no such boundaries  as it is receiving input 24/7 from all of your senses and as thus is influencing you in the process. That is where subliminal learning and influence comes into play as a tool to educate, influence, or even manipulate. 
 
In this episode of Beyond the Present Podcast Dan and Poujix discuss how we could come to learn languages, master musical tones, discern color patterns, develop a sense of connection or familiarity with a product, or even downright be indoctrinated through subliminal influence. 
 
You subconscious mind is learning and altering your mood and behavior all the time without stop, this episode will remind you of the importance of preparing yourself for the right types of subliminal learning and influence while avoiding the wrong ones. 
 
 
Episode Transcript:----more----
 

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

learning, subliminal, influence, background, language, people, consciously, form, coca cola, learn, matter, listen, commercials, trump, advertisement, impact, pay, billboards, behavior, audio

SPEAKERS

Pouya LJ, Dan

 

Pouya LJ  00:09

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to yet another episode of BTP podcast. Let's talk edition. As always, I'm joined with Dan How's it going?

 

Dan  00:18

What am I man buddy? How are you? Good seeing you. It's so glad to be I'm really so happy to be here right now and just to see your face. You've gone full nerd mode right now I love the background like literally you are now a total real physicist 100%. And I love you know, the background is pretty cool. So just can't wait to get started to share ideas with our great listeners.

 

Pouya LJ  00:39

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, likewise, thank you first of all for the compliment. Yeah, so it's been going on for a while.

 

Dan  00:46

So one good question, by the way, Blue Jays. So now you've basically officially graduated, right?

 

Pouya LJ  00:51

Yeah, well, one more semester but yes.

 

Dan  00:53

Oh, almost there, buddy. Don't push, keep pushing. Otherwise, outward actions can be very, very disappointing people

 

Pouya LJ  01:01

Yeah, that's true. All right. Okay, so today's episode is about one of one of one of our audiences ask the question on Instagram from you and that was so as a response to our previous episode, which was about influence of audio on our lives day to day. He his question was the effect of subliminal learning and generally speaking effects on us. So for example, it can be used, as you mentioned in your response by Tony Robbins and your self education, but it's also used perhaps a little less known in advertisement often. Now, we want to address this subliminal learning. First of all, can you define what it is?

 

Dan  01:48

You see subliminal learning or any type of influence a similar nature is pretty much about you trying to influence people at a subconscious level and indirectly rather than directly and consciously. And ironically, it's a slower form of learning, because you're not actively engaged with that process. And also, it takes a long time to change someone's behavior if you want to use that as a form of influence. But ultimately, as you probably know, the subconscious mind is awake 24 seven, and it is far more powerful than the conscious mind ever will. And because of this, simple learning actually has been used throughout basically, you know, not only the modern world, but even in the past, to instruct people and to change their behaviors. And of course, it's a great tool for education. But as you already pointed out, it also could be used to alter people's behavior or preferences, the advertising and commercials.

 

Pouya LJ  02:40

Okay, so let's let's branch out into these two, kind of separate segments. And first, let's start with education. So how can one use it for their students or for themselves to educate themselves better?

 

Dan  02:52

Well, as you probably know, I'm a linguist. So we can learn a lot of for example, languages subliminally and you probably know there's a A lot of courses out of garlic, learn French wild sleeping or something. And, of course, I personally tend to stay away from those courses as much as possible, because in most cases, they're just pure branding and marketing, and there's no real value in them. But basically, anytime there's a form of audio or sound or music in the background, or there are certain types of visual basically pulses in the background, but let's say you're watching for example, something and then at a millisecond, there are certain basically images being shown. Now your conscious mind will never recognize that little thing. But your subconscious is actually reading on that and actually is changing and affecting your behavior. This is also used in a lot of research in labs as well as psychological tests. So it's a great way to influence basically now from my point of view, the most effective forms of subliminal learning when it comes to audio for us is generally for changing your mental condition and the way you feel because it's probably now as we're going throughout our day from morning Tonight, we're receiving a lot of input through our fire senses. And we have no conscious awareness of them because they're just too many of them because we can actually process them consciously up to seven bits of information per second. So that's not that much even though we have a lot of information coming in. So so what we're learning here allows us to improve learning by creating an easier way to have information fed to our mind indirectly. So as in the case of language learning for example, you can actually just sit back and have for example, as you're working on your let's say, I don't know laundry, you in the background, Listen to the music and sound of a foreign language and over time, this actually gives you a great idea of what it is and when it comes to money other material for example, so you want to, I don't know perhaps learn new, you know, chemical formulas or other ways. So you have the material in the background as you are going basically throughout you know your day and you listen that material and you hear it and after a while even though it is not a very efficient or fast way of learning since it almost cost you nothing, because it is subliminal, and you don't have to Spend your time. Because of this, it actually ends up becoming a lot more effective over the long term. Because even the learning is very efficient in the short term, when you are focused and you're trying to learn something by paying full attention. Once we have that at a subliminal level, now we have no time left. So all of a sudden, you can now spend hours per day learning for example, perhaps new words, let's say new useful, for example, material or let's say scientific journals or any type of learning because you know, it can be in the background. But from my point of view, of course, I intend to use simple basic learning mainly to condition my mind if you know no p&l conditioning is about getting your mind and your basically body a state of being oftentimes it is associated with peak level or peak psychology where you are at your best you're fully sharp, and you feel great. That is basically also another usage of simple learning when it comes to education and basically personal development.

 

Pouya LJ  06:00

That's, that's really good. So I mean, you mentioned in addition to your, your mind your thoughts, etc. That's great. Now, you are somebody who knows a lot of languages, and I suspect you spent a lot of time actively learning them. But do you also use subliminal methods and developing your language? Because I'm pretty sure a lot of people listening to this to this podcast are interested in learning new languages or are doing it. Is there any? Are there any ways maybe perhaps podcasts and different languages? I've heard you say, I play video games, for instance, in language learning. Yeah, of course,

 

Dan  06:36

of course. Now, playing video games per se would not necessarily act. So as simple as learning a foreign language because, again, you're fully immersed, you're fully engaged, because submittal is usually when it's in the background. So you mentioned audio, such as podcasts, such as, you know, just TV being turned on the back when that's true. So basically, before getting here, I was actually listening to some material, you know, in Arabic, so I was actually basically doing my stuff. And I was watching Dubai, for example channels to just hear some Arabic in the background basically as a form of subliminal learning. And I do that, of course with a lot of languages and different material. So in a language learning I personally believe that signal learning actually is very effective as a means of letting your brain rest because as you probably now, if you are trying to learn a language from morning tonight, at some point, you will have a burnout because it's gonna be just just too much for you know, Brady to take in at once. However, with the power of the signal learning, you can actually have that language fed to your mind subconsciously, from morning tonight without you actually working so much or pingan a lot of conscious attention. And of course, as I personally have experienced, it really works. Just having that in the background really works, especially when it comes to the musical language I should not long ago I basically published a funny video on Instagram. It was an HGTV exclusive about me mentioning different accents and who asked like, yeah, how did you learn all these things? And the answer is, of course in the mall learning because I literally have All of those basically in my back of my head, and I had no idea to actually learn to pick up their accents, even though I was listen to my clients and my students and my friends in different languages. And this actually got me that in the background, so for language learning, of course, it is very efficient. And anybody who wants to get, you know, take their language to the next level, they should definitely, you know, tap into the power of the normal learning and try to actually listen as much as possible in the background while they're doing other things. And this improves, of course, their overall level of basically fluency because the brain is always learning, even if you're not consciously aware of it, the brain is always learning. And that's exactly hopefully going to get us to the next part, which is why it can be used to change people's behavior, or preferences. And then I'm going to know why. And this is of course, used, basically, and let's say commercials, advertising and other forms, not necessarily Of course in business but also in politics and forms of propaganda, or mass, for example, indoctrinations these could be used and they have huge aquaforce

 

Pouya LJ  09:01

Yeah, so before we actually segue there, I'm wondering, I know it's Isaac igtv exclusive. But do you can you give us a taste of one of those favorite accents of yours?

 

Dan  09:12

Oh, well, I don't know, perhaps you could go for I mean, my first course is Russian. And I like Russian. Because like, you've spent a lot of time trying to them the language and like, you have to tell us that it's not very easy for me to do that. But when you hear this every day from different people, he helps you to understand what it is. And of course, that's just one of the things basically, because it allows you to learn it and to practice it, basically. And I hear this, of course, I have a lot of great content from Russia, do the exact same thing, of course, in different languages. But what really matters, of course, is trying to hear it in the back to a great perspective to learn about it, and then feeling somehow imitated, which is very important, of course, in language learning.

 

Pouya LJ  09:51

Okay, yeah, that's good. That's good. Appreciate it. Alright, so let's segue to the body. Yeah, thank you. So let's segue to the Other parts, which is mainly about influencing people without their knowledge without their perhaps consent, because if you're doing it to yourself if you're learning something language, whatever, it's probably intentional and you have consented to it, but a lot of times through advertisement, yes, political campaigns, propaganda, etc. You're being influenced left and right, without your consent or knowledge or even awareness, which is not later in two weeks time, not two weeks, probably two years time you see yourself a different person and you have no idea what that is why that is. So now advertisement, I guess it's a little bit more intuitive. People have seen these subliminal, you know, effects. For example, you know, Pepsi, Coca Cola, whatever, visually specially, obviously, x. Sure, let's, let's talk about that a little bit. But can you also segue to the political and PR pack for propaganda? Yeah,

 

Dan  10:56

well, they actually are very much linked because they're about Like you see, a perfect example of subliminal learning is actually billboards. Because when you're walking around the city as you're driving, believe it or not, you do not pay a lot of conscious attention to the billboards. And of course, billboards are designed like this. And of course, mainly not just build like all all types of commercials, the ones that you see pop in and out, for example, let's say on your browser, basically on your apps phone. So ultimately, advertising is designed to make you feel familiar with something without you putting a lot of time to learn to get you know, to get to know that thing, right. Because human mind is like this, if we are exposed to anything, whether it is for example, a new idea, whether it is a new product, or a new language doesn't really matter. Doesn't matter how strange or even alien that concept might be. If we are exposed to it frequently enough. Eventually we come to see that thing as it belonging to us like we feel a sense of connection to it. That could be a mere, for example, brands could be a product could be a drink. Could be, for example, a new gadget or a new system, a company or even sometimes a political innovatively way of running the government. So all of these things are subject to influence. And unfortunately, a lot of us we think, like, well, that's not for me. I'm a very smart guy. This is not about intelligence, it doesn't matter how smart you are we all right, no, you and I are sitting here discussing this issue. And we are consciously analyzing different aspects. You and I are as susceptible to this thing as anybody else. Which means it doesn't matter how much you know about this consciously, you are not immune to this subconscious impact that will of course have on you. So as you're driving to and from work every single day, and you have this Coca Cola has, let's say, logo in the background, you're saying like, well, that's just nothing. I don't like sugary drinks. It's not for me at all. I don't really care about these things. But you don't i don't know after a few weeks, you end up going to the grocery store. You just you're in your head like yeah, I gotta pay the bills and all those things and you know, pay the cashier and you do that Why do I just Miko cola. I don't know how it happened. And this is one of the you know, the impacts of this because, of course, it's a form of visual learning at a subconscious level auditorily of course, many other things could happen as well, in terms of using music, let's say in your commercials and other forms of giving you that basically immersion because the fact of the matter is, if you are exposed to anything, even if you are not consciously aware of it, you are going to be influenced by that doesn't really matter even if which is why I think the best way not to be influenced is to actually get away from that object that could actually influence you that's like the only permanent solution. It's kind of like you know, if you want safety of your, for example, data, just put a sticker on a duct tape over the you know, let's say your laptop's camera. This is kind of like that, like the only way not to be influenced by something or someone or some idea is to just simply be away from it and not paid any conscious attention. Nor receive any subliminal impact from that thing. And because of this, it's now being used openly, basically a variety of things. That's why advertising and commercial industry is such a big industry because it works. Because it persuades billions of people around the world to buy products. They don't need to impress people they don't actually like. And this is like the power of some little learning when, when it applies to basically business and we are all vulnerable in this regard.

 

Pouya LJ  14:30

Yeah, that's very true. And I suppose we're closing in on the US elections. I suppose we're going to see a lot of those campaigns. Well,

 

Dan  14:37

listen, as you probably know, I'm an endorser of basically Joe Biden. But the fact of the matter is, even Joe himself is very smart and he understands these things. So even though he I personally don't like Trump. You can see how Joe Biden is actually using a lot of great well designed, for example, attack ads that he's making against Trump like he picks up, for example, one four recently Trump in one of the interviews, he was saying, like, yeah, we have a lot of debt deaths, it is what it is. And we're doing our best. So Biden took that phrase, it is what it is, and then repeated like five times in one attack. And these things aren't being like what mom, voters will know. That's just one of the phrases that he said. But the fact of the matter is, those types of subliminal impact, especially when repeated again and again, via social media, of course, will have a huge impact on the voters. And now we're seeing this happening. Obviously, top politicians are experts at this type of influence, because they are oftentimes the kind of people who have paid a lot of money to their campaign managers to create such types of ads to promote their ideas, basically, and because of this, we are susceptible to that type of influence as well. And that is why I think that it's much better for society as a whole to be well educated and well informed about politics. Otherwise, most people could end up making decisions based upon merely ads and take a look at our last lecture. In 2016, and a lot of people simply voted for Trump because of these things, because they felt like he will make all these changes, even though they have no idea who Trump was. And because of this, of course, we have to know how we can deal with this issue and how to somehow keep ourselves immune against all of this negative impact.

 

Pouya LJ  16:18

All right, that's very great. I think we talked about most of the things we aimed to talk about, and this was supposed to be a shorter episode as a response to like a follow up to our previous episode, because we talked about the influence of audio. And we talked about a lot of the aspects that are conscious, but also a lot of aspects that are that were unconscious, like the subliminal impact. And yeah, so I think, I think I think this was a good sum up from my perspective, but is there something else that we missed out left out that you want to talk about?

 

Dan  16:48

Well, first of all, I want to thank our listener have actually gave us this idea to discuss this matter, but I really believe that if we want to protect ourselves against negative influence, we have to be aware of some of the learning of all sorts Now that's not always bad but I've actually personally make good use of this technology because it really is it's nothing more than a technology for influencing other people basically right so if you have the ability to use that for yourself that's great. Now we mentioned that we can use some learning for a variety of Thai you know, types of learning what be at Korean languages be for example, new concepts in school or in university and at the same time, we can use it for changing our mental condition. For example, ask yourself what type of sound is there in my background in my home most of the time is classic music is it death metal and dual metal is it's you know, Britney Spears, because all of these are going to change your impact if you're in the background with some you know, classic music most of the time, the chances are you're more introverted and very kind of soft and at the same time very well you know, where and probably very intelligent. If you have a lot of doom metal in the background that don't worry why you want to just paint somebody in the face. You don't know why this happens as well. Right? And of course, all of these things Depends on it. And now this could be not just coming to your, let's say your audio in the background, it could be also about the image you have in the background. So what kind of colors are you exposed to most of the time, that's going to make you you know, feel differently about that, you know, based on the color of your listening, that you're paying attention to, and you're listening to and all those things. And finally, it's about using it, unfortunately, to manipulate other people. So we're all vulnerable here. So if you're watching, let's say, I don't know sort of commercials, like that's not for me, I know that Coca Cola is just nothing more than diabetes, that so it is sold in bottles and cans, but the fact of the matter is, if you're exposed to it, and now, eventually you come to see Coca Cola as nothing, but a familiar product that you will actually pick up without even knowing why when you're just doing your grocery shopping. Of course, we also mentioned that this could be used to create basically a new approach to dogma by trying to create propagandas and influence voter behavior. And of course, we've seen this already happening. Our last election was This time, it'll be a little bit different.

 

Pouya LJ  19:02

That's great. Thank you again for joining us and talking to us, Dan. My pleasure, buddy. It's always a pleasure to be here with you. Appreciate it. And thank you everybody for tuning in and listening to our episode. I hope this was useful for you until later episode. Have a good one.