I was watching the Code of Agatha Christie (ITV documentary 27/12/05) today and learned a couple of interesting things about writting. Neuro-Linguistics is one, whereby the subconscious is influenced by read words. 'Study by neuro-linguists at the universities of London, Birmingham and Warwick shows that she peppered her prose with phrases that act as a trigger to raise levels of serotonin and endorphins, the chemical messengers in the brain that induce pleasure and satisfaction."
Then this picture I have just uploaded on to my travelogue came to mind. These kind of positive messages are painted on the walls of the river bank. In China you can't get away from the constant blare of public announcements and propaganda messages. Songs glorifying work and communism sang in the chilling rhythm and that brought about the The Great October Socialist Revolution in 1917. These messages also appear in England, only in a different form. Posters on the underground for example cartoons showing cute characters with captions indicating the kind of behavior expected on the trains. Advertisers take advantage of our capacity for subconscious learning with suggestive messages on film, sound and print.
The Soviet people want to see their fleet (navy) even more powerful and mighty, 1947. Says the caption. It is worth noting the date as it is only two years after the Second World War in which seventeen million people were killed in part by the said navy. It has brought famine and poverty on a scale that theoretically should have prohibited the financing of such navy. The drunkenness of power stemming from the success of winning the war has overpowered their hunger and grief. No doubt, messages like these put people in a certain frame of mind. The Stalinist era's greatest achievement was without the doubt the sheer scale of mind control through media. It's characteristic musical chords and block print style has been adopted by a wide variety of nations whose culture couldn't be more different. China is perhaps the best example for this.
This picture sums it all up. Caption reads: "In Following the Revolutionary Road, Strive for an Even Greater Victory"
No better proof is needed to show that the subconscious mind can be influenced, but what jumped out to me is that how easy it is. "Brainwashing needs only A few simple tool is seems. Appropriately suggestive words in concise sentences, bold strong colours, upbeat rhythm on a louder than normally spoken volume and repetition seems to do the job.
Dangerous things, words!
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