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I wonder what really going on inside the mind here My sister tells a story- when she was in college, a hypnotist came to her school to do a show, she was the

by pitt1980 9y ago

I wonder what really going on inside the mind here My sister tells a story- when she was in college, a hypnotist came to her school to do a show, she was the one of the people called up on stage and hypnotized anyway... she did what the hypnotist told her to do, but she's unsure of whether she was actually hypnotized, or whether it was merely the social pressure of being up on the stage, and playing the expected role Clearly humans are susceptible to psychological manipulation or bullying I'm not entirely sure it follows that that's how the neurons are actually firing inside the mind

vidarh 9y ago
Derren Brown - a stage hypnotist that is quite well known in the UK - actually specifically wrote in one of his books ("Tricks of the mind" at least includes a part on this) that he too is not sure whether or not his subjects are actually under his control, or even whether or not that is a question that makes sense, in as much as they do what he asks of them. He makes the point that a lot of people "wants to help" and play along, and some people are easier to get to play along than others, and it is hard to decide where someone wanting to play along or being easy to convince crosses over the line into someone who is "put in a trance" and "compelled". Not least because the appearance of altered states/trance as well can be a result of someone "playing along". Further, he makes the claim that what matters isn't the rituals, but making the subject believe. He recounts a story of someone who came to him when he was learning hypnosis. Brown believed he had hypnotised this person before, and when he did he would leave a "trigger" to make it easier to hypnotise the same person next time. He claims he simply snapped his fingers and went "sleep!" to the person in question, who then apparently immediately closed his eyes and appeared to go into trance, before Brown realised he'd never hypnotised him before: What mattered was that this person came to him thinking he would hypnotise him, and either this was actually enough to bring him into a "trance", or it was at least enough to make him believe he was going into a trance and act accordingly because it was what he believed would and should happen. The entire chapter on hypnosis in that book is full of doubt and questions about whether or not he is actually causing something, or whether people are simply doing it to themselves. It's one of the things I like about him - he's a sceptic who is open that what he is doing is tricks, and that he doesn't even really know for sure exactly what goes on with some of what he does - just that it works in the sense of creating the show he wants.
- Nursie 9y ago
  I went to a talk on this a little while ago by a guy who claimed to have trained Derren Brown (how true that is... perhaps he was an early influence). Anyway, this guy was also a stage hypnotist and he said he wasn't sure whether he believed there was such a thing as hypnosis either, in very similar terms. Some people just want to please, others are looking for license to act up in public. Of I tell you to go over there and kiss that woman n the cheek, you might do it, you might want to do it, and via the magic of hypnosis, you have ceded responsibility for the act to me. But also that yes - if people are doing what is suggested to them, then what is the functional difference?
LordKano 9y ago
Out of curiosity, what college did your sister attend? When I was a freshman, they brought in a hypnotist and I volunteered. I went through the motions and when he asked us to visualize ourselves in a situation, I went with it and played along. After a couple of minutes, I was sure that there was nothing special going on. I walked back to my seat and observed the rest of the show.
- Nursie 9y ago
  Ha - im my reply to a sibling comment to yours I mentioned a talk by a hypnotist. By way of a demo he had us to close our eyes, bow our heads, clasp our hands together and imagine they were glued in place, telling us there were probably one or two of us who would be unable to move them after a couple of minutes of listening to his voice. Sure enough there were. Did nothing for me. He also said it was impossible to tell whether those who said this were telling the truth, just wanted to please him, or wanted to act up or get attention. Perhaps those in your group who stayed were more inclined to just go along with it.
- pitt1980 9y ago
  Carnegie Mellon
  - LordKano 9y ago
    OK. My experience was at Lock Haven University but I was thinking that it would be cool if by random happenstance, I was reading a story about an event I had attended.

vidarh 9y ago

Derren Brown - a stage hypnotist that is quite well known in the UK - actually specifically wrote in one of his books ("Tricks of the mind" at least includes a part on this) that he too is not sure whether or not his subjects are actually under his control, or even whether or not that is a question that makes sense, in as much as they do what he asks of them. He makes the point that a lot of people "wants to help" and play along, and some people are easier to get to play along than others, and it is hard to decide where someone wanting to play along or being easy to convince crosses over the line into someone who is "put in a trance" and "compelled". Not least because the appearance of altered states/trance as well can be a result of someone "playing along". Further, he makes the claim that what matters isn't the rituals, but making the subject believe. He recounts a story of someone who came to him when he was learning hypnosis. Brown believed he had hypnotised this person before, and when he did he would leave a "trigger" to make it easier to hypnotise the same person next time. He claims he simply snapped his fingers and went "sleep!" to the person in question, who then apparently immediately closed his eyes and appeared to go into trance, before Brown realised he'd never hypnotised him before: What mattered was that this person came to him thinking he would hypnotise him, and either this was actually enough to bring him into a "trance", or it was at least enough to make him believe he was going into a trance and act accordingly because it was what he believed would and should happen. The entire chapter on hypnosis in that book is full of doubt and questions about whether or not he is actually causing something, or whether people are simply doing it to themselves. It's one of the things I like about him - he's a sceptic who is open that what he is doing is tricks, and that he doesn't even really know for sure exactly what goes on with some of what he does - just that it works in the sense of creating the show he wants.

Nursie 9y ago
I went to a talk on this a little while ago by a guy who claimed to have trained Derren Brown (how true that is... perhaps he was an early influence). Anyway, this guy was also a stage hypnotist and he said he wasn't sure whether he believed there was such a thing as hypnosis either, in very similar terms. Some people just want to please, others are looking for license to act up in public. Of I tell you to go over there and kiss that woman n the cheek, you might do it, you might want to do it, and via the magic of hypnosis, you have ceded responsibility for the act to me. But also that yes - if people are doing what is suggested to them, then what is the functional difference?

LordKano 9y ago

Out of curiosity, what college did your sister attend? When I was a freshman, they brought in a hypnotist and I volunteered. I went through the motions and when he asked us to visualize ourselves in a situation, I went with it and played along. After a couple of minutes, I was sure that there was nothing special going on. I walked back to my seat and observed the rest of the show.

Nursie 9y ago
Ha - im my reply to a sibling comment to yours I mentioned a talk by a hypnotist. By way of a demo he had us to close our eyes, bow our heads, clasp our hands together and imagine they were glued in place, telling us there were probably one or two of us who would be unable to move them after a couple of minutes of listening to his voice. Sure enough there were. Did nothing for me. He also said it was impossible to tell whether those who said this were telling the truth, just wanted to please him, or wanted to act up or get attention. Perhaps those in your group who stayed were more inclined to just go along with it.
pitt1980 9y ago
Carnegie Mellon
- LordKano 9y ago
  OK. My experience was at Lock Haven University but I was thinking that it would be cool if by random happenstance, I was reading a story about an event I had attended.