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Subliminal Peripheral Vision (Visual Subliminal Distraction)

Philo_T

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Subliminal Peripheral Vision

Wow. I don't know if this guy is onto something or if he's a wacko. His basic premise is that people concentrating intently on long-term tasks can be driven to psychotic episodes by repetitious movement in their peripheral vision.

He implies that human factors researchers discovered this in the modern office environment, and invented the cubicle to solve the problem. Then promptly forgot to pass this knowledge on to anyone else.

His website uses this to explain a plethora of phenomena. Mysterious disapperances, computer-game related suicide / homicide, the abandonment of Chaco canyon, the Hill's interupted journey and air crashes are examples.
 
Now that is truly odd!
:( but 8) . for some reason
 
I find that whole website incredibly difficult to read... all the different font sizes and alignments... it reminds me of someone hurriedly writing down all their thoughts with no structure or plan of what they're writing.

I did attempt the 'demonstration' thing but I didn't get very far. :huh:
 
Two things:
1) the text formatting—the mix of large and small type, the different alignments—on the website reminds me of leaflets I used to find in cafes in San Francisco during the '80s and '90s. They were photocopies of hand written rants, obviously written by an intensely serious, but mentally ill, political crusader/conspiracy theorist. I have a modest collection of them. They're fascinating stuff.
2) if there is any truth to this hypothesis, what does that say about open office plans? Are open office plans even more of a menace to sanity than we already realize? :eek:
 
There is a controversial treatment called Eye Movement Desensitization Therapy where quick repetitive movement in front of the eye helps relieve post-traumatic stress disorder.

The theory is that the movement stimulates the limbic, (emotional [part of the brain), to a high degree.

Bilateral eye movements supposedly enhance interhemispheric interactions making the brain more creative and improves memory.

The evidence is not fully accepted.

It is possible that repetitive peripheral movements do have an impact on the brain however from an evolutionary viewpoint subliminal distraction wouldn't be a useful adaptation.

Also, agreed the website was painful to view and I imagine that irony was lost on its creator.
 
I'll have to tackle reading that web page at a later date. It's VERY hard to read with the odd formatting. Is it just me, or is there something strange in the fact that this site, talking about the negative impact of distractions in one's environment, is itself very distracting and even a bit stressful to read?

Edit: Just noticed Naughty_Felid made the same point more succinctly immediately above. I must have been distracted.
 
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