In 1969 Herbert Krugman studied the effects of television and advertising extensively. Kriugman was interested in the effects that television has on the choices and daily lives of people who watch it. In order to understand the full effects of television, we must first understand a bit about the brain and hypnosis.

Brain waves are measured in Hertz (HZ) frequency. Here are the possible brainwave states that a human encounters:

Infra Low (<.5 HZ)
Ultra slow brain waves that we know little about. May take a role in brain timing and network function.

Delta Waves (.5 to 3HZ)
Slow, loud brainwaves found in the very deepest meditations and dreamless sleep. This is a state of regeneration and healing, also called restorative sleep.

Theta Waves (3 to 8HZ)
Most often it is twighlight – that special time between consciousness and sleep where you are lucid but not yet sleeping. This is the realm of the subconscious mind.

Alpha Waves (8 to 12HZ)
This is a brain resting state with thoughts that flow quietly. It is characterized by a calm, alert state in which it is easy to learn.

Beta Waves (12 to 38HZ)
This is our normal waking consciousness. We are alert and actively making decisions. In the high end of this state we may have some anxiety occurring.

Gamma Waves (38 to 42HZ)
In this state, the highest state, a person may be having an epiphany – a universal love experience or an experience of bliss and or spirituality. This is the state of expanded consciousness.

According to the research one minute of television can take a person from the Beta wave state to the Alpha wave state, or, in other words, from a waking conscious alert state to quiet, easy learning brain wave state. Most of the logical functioning of the brain is turned off during the Alpha state. What does this mean exactly?

Well, hypnosis occurs in the Alpha and Theta brainwave states. This means that television can make people much more susceptible to suggestions during television, or television “programming.” It means that advertising becomes more effective. Did you ever see a food commercial and get hungry? Have you played the Logo’s game where you guess the logo of a brand without the words? Most people are genuinely surprised at how many logos they actually know. Once in a state of hypnosis any suggestions, positive or negative, become more likely to affect our subconscious and therefore our lives. And, as if the hypnotizing effects of television in and of themselves are not enough, there is more.

Hypnosis has another tool, emotion. The more emotional a person is the closer they are to trauma, the more affected their subconscious. When a person watches a television program where the characters become like family, as so many of us binge watchers do these days, emotional states of empathy are created when something happens to that character. Thus we may cry when our favorite character gets hurt or dies and we may feel the joy when something wonderful happens for one of the characters. These high emotional states also contribute to the hypnotic effects of television. It is easy to slip in opinions of the writer or skewed viewpoints, in a non-objective pattern. But then TV and movies are not supposed to be objective, are they?

Subconscious programming can also be achieved with repetition. Watching the same theme or message over and over again can be the equivalent of what we in hypnosis call “programming,”  but some might call “brainwashing”. How many times do you see food commercials during the Super Bowl? How many calories do you think you consume on the average Super Bowl Sunday? In fact, Super Bowl Sunday is second only to Thanksgiving for calorie consumption, and at 2400 calories for the average American. Do we call it a coincidence?

There is one last hypnotic point to consider and that is children. Our children are subjected to television as well, most at a very early age. From birth to age 7 or 8 all children are already in a Theta wave brain state. This is mother nature’s way of helping to protect us as we grow up. We not only learn that touching a hot pan hurts, we get it embedded in our subconscious so that hot pans in the future will automatically trigger a danger response. And although being in this brain wave state is perfectly natural for children, it should definitely make us think twice about what they are watching, as they are receiving a three-fold hypnotic dose of that program!

Television has become a major part and factor in almost all of our lives. It is an extremely useful medium and a wonderful technological advancement, but as with any form of technology it is important that we use it wisely. Imagine the effects of frequent and repeated violence entering in our subconscious. Imagine the effects of subliminal advertising on the youth of our country. Imagine the effects of opinionated programming and how that affects us as individuals and a nation. As consumers and Americans it is important for us to gauge and monitor our television consumption. We must be vigilant of what is enters our minds, just as we are vigilant about what enters our bodies, creating positive, educational experiences when possible.