Air Force subliminal psychologists developed the tachistoscope, which is simply a machine that flashes words, numbers or images for varying subliminal instants of time on a visible screen. If Your Web Browser Supports Frames. In a way, what we consciously see is all there is to see, but all there is to see is much more than what we see. People are immersed in subliminal stimuli all day long. Many sounds, smells and visual input occur without conscious acknowledgement, but are nevertheless subconsciously recorded.
Human beings sense, perceive and react to a lot of consciously undetected stimuli.
Ultrasonics, infrasonics, radar, microwaves and various forms of radiation can produce bodily reactions without conscious awareness, so obviously there are various levels of awareness within human beings. Even while asleep or with certain brain areas anesthetized, other brain areas can perceive certain things and cause the body to respond to stimuli. During World War II, tacticians found that pilots and gunners were unable to distinguish the silhouettes of planes seen at a distance. To solve this problem, Air Force psychologists developed the tachistoscope, which is simply a machine that flashes words, numbers or images for varying instants of time on a visible screen. In fact, U.S. Navy ship gunners were trained to identify more than 2,000 silhouettes at one sitting without a mistake.