HIDDEN MEANINGS AND SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES: INFERENCES

Entrenched in subliminal messages are inferences, that is, knowledge generated by prior knowledge gained by pairing two statements that together trigger a semantic process generating a third conclusion.

An example of inference is “I’m going to Stavanger this spring. I’ve never been to Norway”. This generates the inference “Stavanger is a city in Norway”.

Another example could be: “As soon as I graduate, I’ll be leaving town. There are no job opportunities left here in Naples”. This generates the inference that I am attending university in Naples.

Inferences can be generated also by the combination of visual statements.

In the first image. A boy passes by a ladder, a monster hangs from the tree: the inference is that the ladder has been taken from the boy.

Once the viewer notices the shadow of the blocks, the appearance of a dinosaur or a tank generates an inference: children play with imagination.

The ants avoid the lollipop: it creates the inference that the candy is sugar free.

A little bicycle on the ground, a peeled leg and a woman with a flamethrower: the inference that is generated is that the mother has to "cauterize" (sanitize) the wound of his daughter, fall off the bicycle.