Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id WAA21224 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 17 Apr 2002 22:35:56 +0100 Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 17:29:54 -0400 Subject: Re: Subliminal advertising Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In-Reply-To: <JJEIIFOCALCJKOFDFAHBGEGHELAA.richard@brodietech.com> Message-Id: <41F2FB3C-524A-11D6-9556-003065B9A95A@harvard.edu> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.481) Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Wednesday, April 17, 2002, at 04:29 , Richard Brodie wrote:
> I think we agree on this subject except perhaps you don't
> have a distinction between conscious awareness and unconscious
> perception. I
> think such a distinction is real and useful.
What I do think is that no advertising has, or can, take advantage of
this, in the way you, and I, mean, because, yes, I do make these
distinctions.
Your claim that there are 'buttons' to be pushed in some unconscious way
that yields some unintentioned behavior is what I am mainly in
disagreement about.
But, as Vincent has noted, we are not in command of how and why we react
to things. Since Aristotle, we have wanted to know the mechanisms of
emotional reaction, and he gave a pretty good description of the hows.
Today, I went to see Gosford Park, a rambling costume and character
drama with a murder thrown for good measure, and, Helen Mirren's
performance elicited a strong emotional reaction in me.
Do I know why? Yes. (I studied drama and the dramatic form and its
elements.) Was I aware of all of the why's as I sobbed? No. But then, we
do not need to be aware of all the things we are doing. In fact, as so
many have pointed out, it is a detriment to be so aware. Trucks tend to
run one over if one is intent upon the way the road feels under one's
feet.
Was Helen Mirren aware of what she was doing and that it might elicit
such a response from her audience. Yes, she was.
What, in that exchange between actor and viewer, was unconscious?
- Wade
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