Many educational professionals blame cartoons and video games for mental shallowness and low general knowledge. Reading books, among others, should enhance the mental development. But books don't seem to 'cut it' when compared to the joy and ease of games and cartoons.
In the early 1950s people started to talk about practices of advertising "below the threshold of awareness", or subliminal messages. While showing a ‘normal’ movie, the audience could be persuaded to feel thirsty for a particular brand of cola. This was done by showing very short bursts of image 'frames' of the product in between the 'frames' of the shown movie.
Why not combine these two, and try to subliminaly teach our youth, by sending book texts through the video signal of cartoon broadcasts and videogames.-- psneekes, Jul 11 2002 Baked. You can do it on the internet right now.
I bet you didn't even realize it just now.-- bwente, Jul 11 2002 Subliminal messaging is illegal in most countries.-- [ sctld ], Jul 11 2002 Subliminal messages for commercial purposes might be illegal, but for 'educational' purposes? Like, interweaving the complete À la Recherche du Temps Perdu from Marcel Proust, in one year's programming of the Cartoon Network? As long as it wouldn't boost the ratings it would not be illegal I guess.-- rrr, Jul 11 2002 Subliminal messageing only works for simple things, like a picture of popcorn, to encourage people to go buy. More complex things, like the page of a novel, takes more time to be absorbed, and so wouldn't work. The idea has good intentions, but its impractical, is unlikely to be any use for those over the age of about 7, due to the need for simplicity in teachings.-- [ sctld ], Jul 11 2002 bliss I thought that was more of a 'Truncheon of misunderstanding?' than a subliminal message.....-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 11 2002 Actually, thumb there's wax's quite ideas revolution deserve the croissants.-- thumbwax, Jul 12 2002 let's try first with simple messages like: E=mc2 or a2+b2=c2-- brit1, Jul 12 2002 Good idea - well-intentioned, at least - bUt You're FOrgetting that, as [sctld] says, miXing In Subliminals is foRbidden In the leGislation of most sopHisticated naTions.-- Guy Fox, Jul 12 2002 Guy Fox: Except of course the Government, doing it without telling anyone, and entirely for their own good of course .......-- 8th of 7, Jul 12 2002 8th of 7: i'm REally SurprISed ThAt you're so coNCErned. if thIs iS what you believe, then yoU have SELflessly endangEred your own life just by publiciSing thiS fact. I for one don't think our lovely masters would do anything like that. God bless 'em.-- Guy Fox, Jul 13 2002 Homer: Damn those disingenuous mountebanks with their subliminal chicanery!-- mrthingy, Aug 15 2003 I think this is a good idea. You could put shapes and colors and letters subliminally into childrens programming. It could encourage faster learning in toddlers. Or with the righ images we could create some great new revolutionaries... or minions... or maids... the list goes on.-- Bighongry, May 12 2006 random, halfbakery