Have you heard about subliminal tapes? These are auditory messages that contain embedded signals that are so weak that they do not reach conscious awareness, but that go straight into your subconscious mind. Calling them “tapes” is a tribute to history because the industry started when tape recorders were in use, but subliminal messages may be carried on digital media too.

Subliminal messages work miracles. They can enhance your learning. For example, there are recordings that help you learn languages or generally improve your memory. You can also use them for self-help purposes: weight loss, increasing work motivation, becoming more condent socially. The best thing about these recordings is that they do not require any conscious eort on your part, and you can even learn in your sleep.

Wouldn’t it be nice to learn while you sleep?

Potentials Unlimited, one of the numerous companies who produce and market such subliminal recordings, offer recordings with a wide range of effects. Here are just some of them: memory improvement, faster reading, creative writing, better time management, as well as freedom from acne, removal of warts, and being better at table tennis!

You can browse through their catalogue yourself:

www.potentialsunlimited.com Researchers concluded that the eect may be explained by increased concentration on the problem:

in this case, once they agree to participate in a study, people are more likely to pay more attention to their weight, which in itself has benecial eects.

So subliminal messages and the idea that you can learn new skills while you sleep have been debunked.

But have they become less popular? No. Subliminal messaging companies continue to ourish and people continue to spend money on their products. This in itself is interesting: it looks as if people are prone to take shortcuts, save thinking energy, and make irrational decisions even when faced with contrasting evidence—but why?