Do Subliminals Work?

My first encounter with subliminals was in 2017, when I was doing research on aegyo sal, or tear bags on Youtube. When I searched for the term, one of the results was an aesthetic light purple thumbnail. When I played the video, the only audio I heard was lofi music and the screen displayed the thumbnail for the whole duration of the video. And this was when I learned what subliminals were.

This is the video I came across, the first subliminal I found.

Since then I have discovered many other channels, ranging from official looking scientific channels to aesthetic subliminal channels made by students. For the latter category, most creators are motivated, hardworking teens who enjoy helping others through their content. Subliminal topics range from manifesting better conditions at home to achieving desired physical characteristics. For physical topics, especially facial ones, many users prefer to listen consistently to these audio works rather than taking risks with costly operations. Among the channels I have checked out, the highest paid request for a subliminal I have seen is twenty dollars. The financial aspect is a major benefit for many subliminal listeners who cannot afford to have work done. In addition, subliminal audios rely on listeners' personal preferences and concepts of what their desires are, eliminating the risk of unsatisfactory work done by professionals which may not match expectations.

So how are these audios supposed to work?

Subliminal makers write documents with affirmations, or sentences about what the video will be about. For example, a subliminal for achieving a smaller nose would contain affirmations about one's nose being small. A subliminal about a lower hairline would contain affirmations for one's hairline being low. A subliminal about improving mental health may have affirmations about self love, good habits, and positive moods. These sentences are often heavily exaggerated for the sake of amplifying results.

Creators convert the affirmations to audio and then put their videos together. Most makers lower the volume of affirmations and place music over them. Some use water or rain sounds for relaxation, while others make "silent" versions, which are not truly silent, but contain only the affirmation audio at a low volume without additional sounds.

Users are instructed to listen to the audios so that they cannot distinguish the sentences, as affirmations are directed at the subconcious mind, not the conscious. Over time, with consistent listening, users achieve their subliminal goals, whether losing weight or doing better on tests.

The results that users have achieved are astounding. The first time I found a subliminal, the aegyo sal video, I was skeptical of what the comments were saying about results. However, after checking out a nose topic and feeling tingling sensations, a common sign of effective subliminals, I searched for result videos. Currently, many channels post about results their listeners have achieved, on both Youtube or Instagram. There are also subliminal users who have made videos about their own results.

But are subliminals safe? This is a common question from outsiders who come across the audios. In general the answer is yes, as long as one stays hydrated and does not listen to the point of exhaustion. An important part of subliminal safety is channel reliability. There have been creators exposed for adding negative affirmations, or sentences with harmful effects on users. However, these are rare. The earliest subliminal videos I found dated back to 2012, and there are only tow major cases where negative channels were exposed since then. One can often tell a channel's reliability and effectiveness from comments and discussions.

Unfortunately, there are channels who purposely make harmful topics and do not hide the fact that the audios they produce induce negative effects. There are users who are vulnerable to using negative topics including eating disorders. The subliminal community seeks to report such channels to keep its users safe. Many creators share news about these channels via Instagram or Youtube community posts so that others can help report them and keep users safe.

The world of subliminals is a bizarre concept. Several Youtubers have made reaction videos to them and the comments from the public were largely skeptical. However, subliminals are often misunderstood and exaggerated as instant transformations into impossible characters or achieving supernatural powers. It is often a hard concept to grasp. Even within the community, there are people who do not fully understand how subliminals work. This is why I have often come across ineffectively made subliminals, such as those with clearly distinguishable affirmations louder than the music, or those with affirmations sped up to the point of being ineffective because of audio quality.

But for those who understand, make, and listen to subliminals correctly, they're a true treasure.