General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLooking back to the early 60s...
I'm currently working on the content for a website about using neuroscience research in internet marketing. It has taken some research, of course, and I've put myself through a short course on the current state of that research.
Just today, though, I recalled being a junior in high school, and reading Vance Packard's book, "The Hidden Persuaders." Published in 1956, it blew the cover off the use of psychology and what he called "subliminal advertising." I remember a lot of what was in there, and it has interesting connections to what I'm writing this month.
I just ordered a used copy of the book. I'll be interested to read it again, but with a new perspective. The real question, though, is what was a 16-year-old small town boy doing reading that book? Funny stuff, I think, now that I'm engaged in a related activity.
onethatcares
(16,204 posts)you were getting an education and your teachers probably thought the best of you for it.
We didn't have the censors back then, at least not to the point of banning books and not letting us think freely.
and, you didn't have a cell phone/computer that answered questions for you. You actually had to read and think, and think and read somemore.
Yay, TEACHERS!!!!!
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Indiscriminately too. Oddly enough, my wide-ranging reading has served me very well ever since. My teachers just humored me in that. At the time, there was no official self-directed study, but I did it anyway. As long as I got As in all my classes, they just gave me full rein to do as I pleased.
onethatcares
(16,204 posts)is what it's all about.
I read constantly too, got books for Christmas, birthdays, anytime anyone need to get rid of some books, they gave them to me.
Today, I still like the feel of paper in my hands as I read. No kindle, no nook, no words on a tablet, screen or anything similar.
What a fine time to be alive in school.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Voracious readers. They all have interesting things to talk about. I've worn out two kindles and don't mind reading that way. Through gutenberg.org, I've been able to find many books that are essentially unavailable otherwise.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Hangingon
(3,071 posts)MineralMan
(146,345 posts)A little over the top and fanciful, but prophetic in many ways. I remember a lot of it generally, but will read it again to compare it with current research, just for my own edification. It has no real relevance to my project, though.
Hangingon
(3,071 posts)MineralMan
(146,345 posts)I was there often. I read voraciously in many areas.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)MineralMan
(146,345 posts)It was a small town, and everybody just let me go my own way. I thank them for that.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,926 posts)I'd be hard pressed to remember exactly when. Perhaps more like the early 70s when I was an adult.
I do recall being quite impressed with it.
And reading a vastly diverse range of topics is always a good idea. Never a bad one.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)That's one of the things that keeps me here. In any other setting, I'd never find three people who read that book in less than an hour. Amazing!
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,926 posts)The mind boggles.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)who had read the book. LOL!
TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)Sometime in the late '70s or early '80s when I was pretty young. I still have my original copy and a spare, could have sent you one! I remember looking through mostly cigarette and alcohol magazine ads for hidden words and pictures. The words "sex" and "f--k" were the most prevalent. If you can get some old Playboys or any magazines from the 60's-'70s you can train your eye to find them pretty easily (look in the neck area).
I'm a long-time voracious reader too. There weren't many kids' books in our house when I was growing up so I just read whatever I could lay my hands on -- the encyclopedia, religious books, magazines, parents' text or other books. Libraries were a godsend to me.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)It will be interesting to read it again, 50+ years later.