Does our Unconscious Talk Backward?
| Leonard Holmes, Ph.D. http://mentalhealth.about.com |
Australian Researcher David John Oates believes that he has discovered a new form of communication. He claims that the brain is generating messages arising from the unconscious. These messages are said to occur every 10 to 15 seconds and can reportedly be heard by playing a recording of normal speech in reverse. He calls his discovery "Reverse Speech."
His Reverse Speech homepage on the web details the theory and provides tantalizing soundbites. An earlier example from his site stated:
Listen to a live commentary of President Kennedy's motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, right at the precise point the assassination occurred. A speech reversal occurs here that says, "He's shot bad. Hold it. Try and look up." This would seem to be the commentator's thoughts at the time. Stop everything and look around (for the gunshots?)
This description is accompanied by a RealAudio sound clip demonstrating the reversal. Is this just coincidence? Did it take several hours of tape to discover a few seconds of random meaning? Not according to Oates.
This site is obviously not a mainstream mental health resource. It is being featured because it generated a great deal of discussion on some Internet discussion boards; and because the idea is intriguing. Are you old enough to remember the "Paul is dead" rumor concerning the Beatles? Since that time, "backward masking" has been used in some rock records. This technique involves intentionally recording some backward speech on an album using recording tricks. The idea was that the subconscious would perceive these words completely outside of conscious awareness.
David John Oates takes this ides one step farther. He claims that we all produce backward speech on a subconscious level, and that we also understand it on that level. This is thought to be one component of intuition.
Are you convinced? I'm not, but I am interested. I can't say absolutely that it isn't true. Visit the site to decide for yourself, but take it with a grain of salt.
| Leonard Holmes, Ph.D. http://mentalhealth.about.com |