THE SUBLIMINAL SELF. 



By J. ARTHUR HILL. 



I. 



There has probably always been a suspicion, 

 among thinkers, that we are greater than we seem 

 to be. For one thing, the idea flatters our natural 

 vanity — or, to put it more mercifully, our hopes 

 and longings and aspirations — and is a hospitable 

 refuge, giving ampler air and spaciousness in times 

 of suffering, due to our limitations. It is expressed 

 in many forms and places. In the Bible, mortals 

 are referred to as" gods " (Psalm lxxxii, John x); in 

 Christian theology the Divine and human natures are 

 united, not in one unique instance, but in all (e.g., 

 Dante, near the end of the " Paradise " and else- 

 where) ; in Plato's " Republic " the human soul 

 descends from supernal realms, drinks of Lethe, and 

 forgets its previous experience (limits itself, puts off 

 its greatness, takes on the form of a servant) ; and 

 this kenosis is closely paralleled in some of the 

 teachings of Hinduism. The standard modern 

 expression of the idea is that of Wordsworth in the 

 "Ode":— 



Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ! 

 The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 



Hath had elsewhere its setting, 

 And cometh from afar : 



Not in entire forgetfulness 



And not in utter nakedness, 

 But trailing clouds of glory do we come 



From God, who is our home. 



And elsewhere, in a sonnet, he finishes with the often - 

 quoted line : " We feel that we are greater than we 

 know." 



Until recently these ideas were left to the domain 

 of the speculative philosopher, or poet, or prophet. 

 But within the last quarter of a century or so they 

 have more and more claimed the attention of the 

 scientific man, and they have more and more 

 obtained the support of actual, scientifically observed 

 facts. 



II. 



If there is something mental or psychical in us 

 beyond the bounds of our own minds or souls as we 

 know them in self-consciousness, how are we to 

 discover this something; how become aware of it ? 

 The answer cites various classes of fact, and the 

 inferences to be drawn from them. 



(1) Subliminal Sensation. — One small fly walking 

 over the back of my hand arouses no sensation. It 

 is not felt. But if there were six flies instead of one 

 I should feel them. Thus, six times nothing 

 produces something ; or, to put it the other way, a 

 given amount of sensation is produced by a certain 

 stimulus, but when the latter is decreased by five- 

 sixths the remaining sensation is not one-sixth of 



the original sensation, but, on the contrary, is nil. 

 In other words, there is a " threshold " ; below this 

 threshold of intensity a stimulus produces no con- 

 scious sensation ; but we suppose that it produces 

 a subconscious or subliminal one. Something in us 

 perceives the one fly, even if the normal mind does 

 not. This is borne out by various experiments in 

 hypnosis, whereby the subliminal can be put — as 

 Professor James used to say — " on tap." Conscious- 

 ness is like a spectrum-band. There are sensations 

 which we do not normally become aware of, as there 

 are rays of light which we cannot see. 



(2) Subliminal Intellection. — For this the evidence 

 is ample. There is no doubt whatever that some- 

 thing in us thinks, reasons and calculates without 

 the normal consciousness knowing anything about 

 it. The most striking experiments on this point are 

 those of Dr. J. Milne Bramwell, who ordered 

 hypnotised patients to carry out some action after 

 their arousal from the trance — as, for example, to 

 make a cross on a piece of paper at the end of a 

 specified period of time, reckoning from the moment 

 of waking. In the normal, waking state, the patient 

 knew nothing of the order; but a subliminal mental 

 stratum knew, and watched the time, making the 

 patient carry out the order when it fell due. The 

 period varied from a few minutes to several months. 

 For instance, Dr. Bramwell would say to the 

 hypnotised patient : " You will feel impelled to 

 make a cross on a piece of paper, and will do so, 

 putting down the time also. This is to take place 

 at the expiration of 24 hours and 2,880 minutes." 

 This is one of the actual cases : the order was given 

 at 3.45 p.m. on Saturday, December 18th, and it 

 was carried out correctly at 3.45 p.m., December 21st. 

 In other experiments the periods given were 4,417, 

 8,650, 8,680, 8,700, 11,470, 10,070 minutes. All 

 were carried out correctly. In the waking state the 

 patient was quite incapable — as most of us would 

 be — of calculating mentally when these times would 

 elapse. But the hypnotic stratum could do it, and 

 could ensure that the order should be carried out at 

 the exact moment of falling due. In one instance 

 the time happened to expire during the night. The 

 patient made the cross on paper at her bedside at 

 the correct time, apparently without waking, for she 

 had no recollection of having done it.* 



We may say, then, that not only is there some 

 subliminal part of our minds that can calculate, but 

 also that this something can calculate better than 

 the ordinary waking consciousness. 



The same conclusion is arrived at by consideration 



of the performances of "arithmetical prodigies." It 

 * Proceedings, Society for Psychical Research, XII., p. 185. 



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