1BROYLES, SHERI J. "Subliminal Advertising And The Perpetual Popularity Of Playing To People’s Paranoia." Journal Of Consumer Affairs 40.2 (2006): 392-406. 2Lohr, David. "Subliminal Advertising." Investigation Discovery. Discovery Channel Online, Web.3Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 2008.

Image from trutv.com

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. “Propaganda (definition).” Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, October 21, 2012. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda.

“[Propaganda Image]”, n.d. http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2010-12-20-wwiipropagandacrazy.jpg

www.1propaganda.com

1 Orwell, George. 1984. Barcelona: Ediciones Destino, 1997. Print.

2 “EBSCOhost: CONSPIRACY WATCH: OPERATION COUCH 2 “EBSCOhost: CONSPIRACY WATCH: OPERATION COUCH POTATO”, n.d. http://ezproxy.arcadia.edu:2072/ehost/detail?vid=13&hid=110&sid=a2264339-7748-4f32-a9ad-50f817e7673b%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=38703544.

Image from:www.dtvfacts.comwww.dtvfacts.comcommons.wikimedia.org

All Eyes on You:

Uses of Propaganda:

Resources:Subliminal Messaging: A History in Hiding

To understand where the conspiracy comes from, we need to look at the philosophy behind it. This idea of technology as a controlling device comes from post-modern thought and what Jean Baudrillard calls the “simulacra”. Baudrillard characterizes postmodernity through media advances that consequently cause society to blur the lines between reality and “hyper-reality”. In Baudrillard’s terms, postmodernity is an era in which the “universe becomes a control screen” rather era in which the “universe becomes a control screen” rather than meaningful, personal interactions4. For the conspiracy theorist, if we are in this era that Baudrillard describes, we’re not far off from Huxley’s Brave New World after all.

But what does this mean for society? Consumer journalist Sheri Broyles concludes “it is important to remember that people do not act on reality but rather on their perceptions of reality”5.

Psychologists have concluded time and time again that it is in Psychologists have concluded time and time again that it is in human nature to want to understand everything in the universe. Technology fascinates us because it is extremely helpful in our day to day lives but there is still so much unlocked potential. We see technology do incredible things every day and we know that in a few years time even more is going to be available to us in the future. Because of all these unknown possibilities we fear that the same technology that unknown possibilities we fear that the same technology that helps us now will potentially control us in the future.

Technology both fascinates us and instills fear in us, giving rise to these conspiracies.

CZ