Five years ago when I purchased my first computer system, I couldn't persuade my laser printer to print postcards. Envelopes and letterheads worked fine, but for some reason it refused to print postcards. I read all the manuals on the printer and the software that were available and could not find a reason why postcards were rejected. I even called the head programmer of the software who himself didn't know the answer and promised me he would brainstorm my problem with other programmers and possibly arrive at a solution. Bear in mind, I didn't have training or prior knowledge of the workings of a computer system.

The next morning, in the shower, the solution to the problem came to me in a brilliant flash! All I had to do was type a command stream into the software that would fool the printer into believing that the post card was really just an ordinary sheet of paper. I couldn't wait to get to the office. I typed in the commands and it worked the first time! Thereafter, the shower became one of the greatest places for the reception of great ideas. What I couldn't figure out is why the ideas came then. What did I do to prompt my mind to reach these brilliant conclusions?

The quest for an answer to that question caused me to read numerous books on psychology and brain power. The books reminded me that the subconscious mind continues to process information through the night and will give one a conclusion provided it has been given that task. There must be a technology, I thought, that one can use to program one's mind to continually work on the immense mental tasks that our conscious mind would normally find overwhelming.

The answer came recently when a friend of mine called to tell me about a man named Richard Welch who developed a technology called Subliminal Photography®. His company, Subliminal Dynamics®, is based in Centennial, Colorado. Mr. Welch and an army of instructors are now teaching this technology in the United States, Canada, and other foreign countries. Mr. Welch explained that the mind, through the eyes and other senses, takes in millions of bits of information continually and is consistently in the process of evaluating that information. Some of the information it brings to our conscious attention immediately, as in the case of a plate we're holding that's too hot and may burn us. Other data it evaluates and helps us reach conclusions. For example, have you ever talked to a person who, on the surface, seems genuine, sincere and looks you in the eye with confidence, but your guts were telling you that the person was lying to you? Your conscious mind may reprimand your gut feeling by saying 'this is a attractive person, they don't seem incongruent in their actions, they can't be lying.' Could it be that our subconscious mind had reached a conclusion about that person based on the data it was receiving? It may have been imperceptible to the conscious mind, a twitch, a slightly higher pitch in their voice, nervous gestures or body movements. All of that accumulated data caused your mind to reach a conclusion -- and it was probably correct.

The same inner mind is called a servo-mechanism by Dr. Maxwell Maltz in his book, Psycho-Cybernetics, published in 1960. He contended that the inner mind is a brilliant servant whose sole purpose is the performance of tasks assigned to it by the conscious mind. This combination makes man a goal-striving organism who finds fulfillment in pursuing and overcoming challenges. What Dr. Maltz and Mr. Welch both concluded that we clearly underestimate the abilities of the mind.

For example, Mr. Welch privately funded research into the capabilities of the mind in the mid-1970's. He discovered that while the average reading speed was approximately 250 words per minute, speed-reading could possibly increase the speed up to a few thousand words per minute. The faster a person could speed-read, the greater their comprehension levels and retention levels. This may counter popular belief that a person must read slowly and methodically to maximize retention. The mistake in this thinking is the assumption that the brain is limited to the amount of information it can receive -- not so, according to Mr. Welch's studies. Mr. Welch was able to get his test subjects to easily consume 25,000+ words per minute. By using a tachistoscope, a device that flashes book pages on a screen at the rate on one every 40 milliseconds, test subjects could consume in excess of 2,000,000 words per minute! Can one's brain retain that amount of information?

Amazingly, the answer is "yes." When tested on the material, subjects would regularly score in the 70 to 90 percentile range. The reason this works, according to Mr. Welch, is that if the technology he developed is followed, a specific part of the brain is accessed which in effect is long-term memory. The information taken in by-passes the conscious mind and goes directly to the mind's storage tanks. Thereafter, it is a matter of being able to reach into the storage area and retrieve information as needed. This requires an education in accessing techniques.

It is difficult for the conscious mind to conceive of accessing such large amounts of information and of the ability to retain it in long term memory indefinitely. After all, since we were five years of age, our schooling system taught us that to remember anything we must use slow, methodical repetition. Sending information directly to long-term memory, by-passing conscious thinking almost smacks of educational heresy.

Mr. Welch is not alone in his discovery of this amazing part of our mind. A research study conducted at Towson State University in Towson, Maryland, in 1977, reported by Christina Selway, Mark Jacobson and Frederick Parente into the area of eidetic imagery, or "photographic memory" as it's commonly known, concluded that eidetic memory is a large capacity to store detailed and colorful images that are retained by the individual for long periods of time. The evidence they found suggested that eidetic imagery is maintained in the adult population as a little used memory store that may be accessible to most everyone in certain conditions. However, it was clear that the subjects had to believe in their eidetic ability to maximize their performance. The study concluded that eidetic imagery can be learned. The use of eidetic memory in the adult years is probably a matter of practicing the use of a memory strategy rather than the possession of a unique ability by just some.

Indeed, prior to our attending elementary school, from the date of birth, we used what Mr. Welch calls Subliminal Photography®, to learn everything we needed to become societally functional. Some children learn several languages, how to walk, to recite books and movies verbatim, and even to manipulate adults to get what they desire, all in just five years! This is accomplished, according to Mr. Welch, though the direct access to long-term memory by the child, using a natural innate whole-brain learning ability. This direct link to stored information diminishes as the rote-memorization of schooling suppresses this inherent talent.

Mr. Welch simply contends that a person can regain that valuable talent. The same amazing learning abilities a child has can be reawakened in us as adults! Think of what that could mean to us. Suppose we developed cancer in our body and were given several options of treatment. Which treatment do we choose, especially if we haven't studied the disease? Our life depends upon that decision. In the past, we would credulously leave that decision to our physicians. Now in addition to listening to the recommendations of our physicians, imagine being able to go to the library, Mentally Photograph® every piece of information ever written about our particular disease, have our subconscious analyze that information and, with the help of our physician, reach the conclusion that's in our highest interests? This is only one of the scenarios that has become a reality for thousands of people who have been exposed to Subliminal Dynamics® technology, including myself.

I attended Mr. Welch's Subliminal Dynamics® course. There, I learned how to take a 300 page book and send it directly to long-term memory in less than five minutes! I was amazed that when I was tested on the information, I scored 70-85% on the exams. In the weeks after the course, I photographed my entire reading pile and most of my library of books at home. This is the first time in my life where I have been completely caught up on all my reading including all trade journals, correspondence, etc. I have mentally ingested reference materials, fiction and non-fiction novels, life stories, the Bible, and even dictionaries. I am amazed at what ideas, thoughts, and words come out of my mouth. Words that normally were not in my vocabulary, I am now using correctly! Large, complex ideas are now coming to me that previously were not available. Indeed, I've discovered that a person's entire level of thinking grows exponentially when one feeds the mind large doses of input. I've spoken to some of the 15,000+ students that have been exposed to the Subliminal Dynamics® technology and their reaction to what they have learned is very similar to mine.

There isn't any danger we will overload our mind. The amazing brain makes more connections between brain cells to compensate for your increased information input, according to a recent Bristol-Myers Squibb symposium titled "Brain Plasticity: A Lifespan Perspective". They concluded, as reported by USA Today that having more connections per brain cell allows for more information to be processed, enhancing mental function. As you age, brain cell connections can diminish. Having a greater number of connections per brain cell means that there are more connections as a whole, so the connections that are lost to normal aging are therefore a smaller percentage of your brain's capacity. Thus, you have further to go before crossing a threshold of loss and succumbing to age-related dementia such as Alzheimer's disease. Hence the question, are we feeding our brain enough information-type food?

Many of us may answer "no" as the rigor of daily life leaves us little time for deep study. For those of us that do read regularly, one book per month or even one per week, may not be enough to keep up with large amounts of data now available to us. A technology that allows us access to vast amounts of information quickly is the crucial technology for the 1990's. Without this ability, it will be difficult for any person, business or nation, for that matter, to keep up with rapid revolutionary technological changes we are seeing each year. Every aspect of life is changing at a pace never before seen in history. Picture a system whereby information to children can be stepped up dramatically. This could have massive impact upon what type of adults today become. It would minimize boredom at school and lessen the child's desire to participate in errant behavior due to a lack of focus. It could possibly move college information to grade school levels and allow colleges to spend less time bringing students up to speed, to focus their direct brain power to resolve current issues troubling mankind.

Further, studies conducted by Mr. Welch indicate that most learning disabilities such as dyslexia and even what some call "mental retardation" are conscious level disabilities. For the most part, the subconscious mind in these people is intact and functioning normally. Since Subliminal Photography® is a function of the subconscious mind, individuals who were tested with learning disabilities (even some considered legally blind) can access data off the printed page with high level of recall and retention. While this may sound unbelievable, consider L. Weiskrantz's discovery in an article Blindsight (1986 New York: Oxford University Press) where cortically blind patients were studied. The patients reported no relevant conscious visual experiences for objects when they were required to make forced-choice decisions. So, high levels of learning need not to be the privilege of a select segment of humanity. It is possible to raise the so-called "I.Q." of the large majority of mankind efficiently.

To get there, we need to take the first step. We must learn and exercise this mental technology to reach higher levels of learning. It is available today and easily accessible. Once we learn how to efficiently tap into our vast storehouses of written knowledge, we must trust that our inner mind will work diligently to process this information and create effective solutions to the problems we are facing. We must be courageous, unafraid to shift the learning methods we have used for decades and rise to a new, improved level of learning. We must believe that higher learning levels are possible.

Perhaps, someday, books may no longer be the method of choice by information hungry people (it's very tedious to turn pages fast enough). Instead, we may have machines in the home and in schools like the tachistoscope that flashes information on a screen rapidly so a person can access all the known information on a topic and have a mental command of a particular subject. Could there be a cable channel in the future that plays volumes of data on demand on any subject that you desire? Perhaps, data at these new learning levels will be available through the "information highway" which is right around the corner. These products will only be feasible if enough people are exposed to the Subliminal Dynamics® technology and demand information at these increased levels.

The real question we must each answer is "Are we satisfied with our current level of learning or will we be part of the new information revolution?"

David Jurewicz is a Radio Talk-Show host on KBFK-AM, Sacramento, CA, a Real Estate Broker and a columnist of the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

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