“Hypnotic Influence”
Devices of Influence
The brain is a very intricate part of
the body but it is also very fragile. It
has the ability to process data at incredible speeds. However, it is vulnerable to outside manipulation. Television, computers, and smartphones are
mediums that allow us to view digital images and videos that have a hypnotic
effect on our brains.
When we watch television, the images
that we view are not solid images. They
are really images that are flashing or refreshing too rapidly for our eyes to
detect. But our brain is affected by
what our eyes see. As we view these
images, the left hemisphere of our brain which is our cognitive and analytical
side becomes more dormant. Our left
brain is the side that processes information and determines which information
to allow in and which information to disregard.
The right side of our brain is more emotional and non-critical. According to research conducted by Dr.
Herbert Krugman, former president of the American Psychological Association, as
we watch television, the left hemisphere of our brain decreases in operation
and the right hemisphere of our brain doubles its activity rate. This is considered an extreme neurological
anomaly.
Psycho physiologist Thomas Mulholland
has shown thru research that after 30 seconds of watching television, your
brain will go into an almost comatose state.
The neo-cortex, which is the midbrain, controls sensory perception,
motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought and language. This part of the brain is shut down and brain
activity is transferred to the limbic system, which is our lower brain. This part of the brain controls emotion,
behavior, motivation, long term memory, and olfaction. Television causes our cognitive thinking to
dissipate and allows our emotional thinking to take control. Longitudinal studies have shown that extended
use of our lower brain leads to higher brain atrophy. Our brain can absorb 1800 pictures a minute
and 40,000 pictures while watching a 30 minute program.
Subliminal messages are messages that
are hidden within video files or desktop backgrounds that have the purpose of
programming people’s minds. These
messages have the ability to bypass the conscious mind and go directly to the
subconscious.
Many times, we are witnesses of crass
behavior exhibited by others. While we
may be baffled by the behavior, in many cases, what we are experiencing is a
demonstration of what occurs when the left side of your brain or your cognitive
side has been disengaged for an extended period of time. When we do not exercise caution or restraint
with the information we allow into our spirits, we open ourselves up to
concepts and ideologies that go against the mindset that the Bible teaches us
to have.
In one experiment, 182 West Germans
agreed to avoid television for a year with the promise of receiving payment for
successfully doing so. None of them
lasted longer than six months. Each of
them exhibited increased anxiety, frustration and depression. These are the same symptoms of heroin
withdrawal.
Even though certain devices may
appear to be innocent or harmless, they can have a deleterious effect on
us. As born again believers in Christ,
we have a responsibility to display a changed and different lifestyle than
unrepentant individuals. However, some
of our favorite entertainments may interfere with our ability to do so.
Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good
and acceptable and perfect.
