Cutting Off Your Legs – A Safe Spiritual Experiment As Seen On TV

The TV show “Through The Wormhole” with Morgan Freeman attempts to answer spiritual questions through the lens of modern science. It's truly fascinating, so definitely watch it if you can.

There was one on the subconscious, and though it there were a lot of really interesting experiments, one in particular was trying to answer this question:

“Can our subconscious programming over-ride our conscious perception of reality?“

Think about that for a moment.

Assume you KNOW consciously that something is true. Not just consciously as in “when you think about it,” but in your immediate experience you know absolutely that something is true. Is it possible for your subconscious to literally *force* you to respond in a way that is contradictory to what you know are experiencing?

It may seem kind of crazy. It would be like saying “Well I know gravity is pulling me down, but my subconscious makes me believe I'm actually flying into the sky.” In fact, when it's phrased that way you probably think it sounds almost delusional.

Well here's the experiment they used to try and test this theory…

In a room, there are two places to lie down. One of them is occupied by a doll. In the other place is a real person who is dressed exactly like the doll. The subject lays down and looks at his legs while wearing a pair of goggles which have small screens on them (like virtual reality glasses). Those goggles are connected to cameras that point downwards towards the doll's legs.

If that sounds confusing, here's how it works:

When the person in the experiment looks through the goggles, what that person is *really* seeing are the doll's legs. However, because the person is dressed exactly the same, it creates the illusion that the person is looking at her own legs.

Here's where it gets interesting…

The first part of the experiment requires “setting” the stage. First, they take a basic object (like a stick) and gently run it up and down the person's leg. At the same time, somebody else is running an identical stick up and down the doll's “leg.”

The purpose of this is to actually TRICK the person's subconscious mind into thinking that what it sees in the cameras is actually what's happening to her real physical body.

Now because the person KNOWS all the details of this experiment, she consciously knows that she's watching the doll's fake legs. She knows that it's a different stick that is touching the doll. There is no intent to trick the subject into believing the experiment is anything different than what it is. She knows every detail of the experiment up front.

AND…

And this is a big and…

After the initial “setting” has been done, the experiment takes a drastic detour.

First, the experimenter no longer touches the subject in any way. Then, instead of just using a stick, the experimenter takes out a giant sharp blade. The experimenter starts running the blade back and forth over the doll's legs.

The person wearing the virtual goggles still knows that it's all fake and just happening to the doll. She is not consciously scared at all because he knows that it is a total illusion.

What's unreal though is that his body starts constricting and withdrawing. Her body quite literally responds with fear as though the blade really was threatening to cut off her legs. No amount of consciously reminding herself that it's just a doll helps. Her body is scared to death that her legs are going to be cut off.

Now back to the original question:

Can your subconscious programming over-ride your conscious perception of reality?

Science has proven the answer is yes. And that begs an even bigger question:

What else are you experiencing that might not actually be real?

Here's a hint: One such experience involves a profane four letter word that you can read about in this followup blog post.