ABSTRACT
The word subliminal is often used to refer to something that is below conscious perception—stimuli received by the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or skin that do not seem strong enough to be consciously seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or felt—and yet it still seems to have an effect. Subliminal perception suggests unconscious awareness: people can be affected by stimuli that they do not consciously experience. Just as a camera records light energy that is turned into a photograph, so too the eye gathers light energy that is turned into the mind's perception of an image. The latent images embedded into art, photographs, and advertisements can activate ideas that are universal among humans, yet subconscious—which is why these images might be more effective when unseen rather than seen—subliminal rather than overt. In this age of digital photography, one might have different experiences of images on a screen versus prints held in the hand.
