Many people may not realize that when they turn on the television in their home, what they see as a constant flow of images is actually flickering. Although we do not see this consciously, the repetitive pattern of flickering images creates a state that is similar to hypnosis in the television viewer. Studies by researcher Herbert Krugman have shown that within 30 seconds of television viewing, brain waves switch from predominantly beta waves, indicating alert and conscious attention, to predominantly alpha waves, indicating an unfocused, receptive lack of attention. The brain's left hemisphere, which processes information logically and analytically, tunes out while the person is watching TV, while the right hemisphere of the brain, which processes information emotionally and non-critically, is allowed to function without hindrance. Due to this phenomenon, television transmits information, which is not actively thought about at the time of exposure, much like hypnosis. When viewing television, we do not consciously rationalize the information resonating within our unconscious depths at the time of transmission and the viewer becomes more open and suggestible.
Because of the passive, hypnosis-like viewing of television as well as its predominance in the homes of nearly all Americans, the television is one of the most powerful tools used today. As of 2009, six companies controlled all of the major media outlets in the United States. That is a very small number of people controlling all of the information that streams into millions of homes across America each day through their television sets. In recent years, a number of investigations and exposes have revealed that these giants' silence independent voices and investigations, discourage journalism that interferes with the agendas of special interests, and eliminate diversity in the information they provide. Because of the control that these companies have over the information that most Americans receive on a daily basis, these criticisms and revelations are never known by most of the American public.
These media giants work hand and glove with the federal government as well as many multinational corporations to disseminate carefully planned messages. Through the television and other forms of media, they tell you what to think about, what to worry about, what to smile about, and what to be scared of. They have sold the public on the idea of the newscaster being an extension of the family, a trusted figure who encourages the acceptance of the information being presented as true and accurate. In 2008, the pentagon spent more than $2 billion compensating major media outlets for disseminating public relations messages. These messages are delivered to the television viewer as news produced by the television station, not as paid and produced by the pentagon. In the same year, pharmaceutical companies paid television outlets more than $4 billion for advertising, which included Video News Releases (VNR), specially tailored pieces that appear within the nightly news disguised as researched and reported by the local stations. No other industrialized nation in the world allows drug ads on television let alone these cleverly disguised VNRs hidden within the news.
And yet while all this has been happening behind the scenes, the American public has been duped into staking all their trust in select major media outlets as they express brand loyalty in television stations, newspapers, and magazines. Many people have been tricked into believing that the mainstream media reports only objective news while any information delivered from outside the mainstream is to always be questioned. Somehow the public has bought into the idea that the TV wouldn't lie to them. Many people will not pay any regard to information that is not covered by the major media; if they did not hear about it on the nightly news then they simply don't care. This is the mindset that the major media moguls want us to have, as we are willfully ignorant and obedient to their every direction. Our unanalytical and loyal viewership is in their best interest.
Major media news networks continually bombard us with the possibility of an endless amount of scenarios, which produce fear and then shape our reactions to real situations. This is predictive programming; it gets us familiar with an idea so that when it happens we expect it and do not react and question. Although most people refer to television programming as the shows that are aired on television, it can also refer to the programming of the people that occurs on a daily basis. Most people believe they are just simply being entertained, but they never realize that their way of life is being shaped for them and their thoughts are actually being given to them. They are being familiarized with ideas, concepts, and fear so they won't question certain interventions in the future. TV gives us what messages must be imprinted in our minds, gives us what button to push in what sequence, and if it's done the right way with the right production and the right propaganda then the public will react and do exactly as they've been programmed to do.
When one continually controls the information, one controls the people absorbing the information. The manufactured and controlled information on TV can be referred to as the signal and that constant signal is what shapes and guides the masses to their conclusions. In order to take back our minds, we must first learn to "Unplug the Signal." By turning off your TV you will realize the world that you're living in is suddenly very unfamiliar to you. You will see that news of no importance is constantly debated and analyzed, and as you listen to the conversations of people around you, you realize they're talking robots just repeating what they've heard on the news. This is exactly what Zbigniew Brzezinski talked about in his book "Between Two Ages". He said, "Shortly, the public will be unable to reason or think for themselves. They'll only be able to parrot the information they've been given on the previous night's news."
While once engaged by the television set and other forms of the mass media, Nathan Janes began to notice that the reality that he was being sold was not his own. In a society saturated with meaningless advertising art with no substance Janes became (more...)
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