Is hypnotism real?
- Thread starter Calleja
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Yup, this.
North_Ranger
Staff member
If we're talking about the show variety where people start snogging with a broomstick because some guy in a suit tells them it's Megan Fox... no.
If there's another kind... well, I'm listening.
If there's another kind... well, I'm listening.
North_Ranger
Staff member
Well, capital I got to expand your lingo, guv'nah. Cheerio.
This isn't the answer you're looking for. You can go about your business.
figmentPez
Staff member
The Mythbusters tested hypnosis myths and found that while post-hypnotic suggestions can't make people do things they otherwise wouldn't, they did find that memory recall is better while under hypnosis.
As far as I know this is in line with what scientific research has found about hypnosis. The human mind can be put in an altered state where it behaves differently than the normal waking state, but it's not brainwashing.
The Mythbusters tested hypnosis myths and found that while post-hypnotic suggestions can't make people do things they otherwise wouldn't, they did find that memory recall is better while under hypnosis.
As far as I know this is in line with what scientific research has found about hypnosis. The human mind can be put in an altered state where it behaves differently than the normal waking state, but it's not brainwashing.[/QUOTE]
Actually, Mythbusters was wrong. In general, there is no memory advantage that comes from hypnosis. In fact, since people are in a more suggestable state, they tend to be more prone to biasing language and leading questions. Hypnosis seems to be a genuine change in a person's conscious state that is probably a little like meditation, in that the person is relaxed but awake. There has been nothing that a hypnotized person can do that a non-hypnotized person can do. Additionally, hypnotized people have limits in that they won't do anything you ask, especially if it goes counter to their nature. Part of the reason people may do crazy things at hypnotist shows is that there is a social acceptance that such craziness is okay. In general, hypnotism does seem to impact, temporarily, a person's state of mind but not in any particularly profound way.
So, I don't want to sound like a schmuck, but what is going on in those shows where the hypnotist tells someone they're naked, and they act embarrassed, etc. Are the folks faking it? Are they a part of the act? Are they just open to suggestion?
I've always thought it was a bunch of b.s.. Is it reliable at all?
I've always thought it was a bunch of b.s.. Is it reliable at all?
Not entirely reliable in that some people are just not very susceptible to hypnotism. Some level of trust is required to be hypnotized and not everyone can provide that to the hypnotist. At a hypnotist show, the hypnotist will often have a large number of people come on stage, try to hypnotize them all, and work with the most pliable ones. He is really putting them into a suggestable state, I think, that is probably a little like daydreaming vividly, I'd guess. If a person really believed they were naked, though, they probably wouldn't stay on the stage, acting embarrassed and trying to cover themselves up. They would run full bore out of the room.
D
Dusty668
Hey Phil, lookit!
The Mythbusters tested hypnosis myths and found that while post-hypnotic suggestions can't make people do things they otherwise wouldn't, they did find that memory recall is better while under hypnosis.
As far as I know this is in line with what scientific research has found about hypnosis. The human mind can be put in an altered state where it behaves differently than the normal waking state, but it's not brainwashing.[/QUOTE]
Actually, Mythbusters was wrong..[/QUOTE]
DOES NOT
COMPUTE
North_Ranger
Staff member
Cuz yer a good person.
Yep, it's real. Never been hypnotized (too much of a natural skeptic), but from what I gather, your conscious mind relaxes enough to lower the barriers which keep you from trusting what you're told. This means you are more trusting of others, willing to believe what they say at face value. Hilarity ensues.
--Patrick
--Patrick
A few years ago, I found I have a sort of naturally-developed form of hypnotism where I can talk to a person, and pretty soon afterwards they'll spill their deepest secrets out at me.
As MindDetective said though, there needs to be a level of familiarity and trust first. I can do it to friends and acquaintances, but not strangers.
As MindDetective said though, there needs to be a level of familiarity and trust first. I can do it to friends and acquaintances, but not strangers.
Z
Zarvox
Didn't know that; thanks MindDetective. Always good to have an actual professional pop up to explain things.
This is true.
C
Chazwozel
Ever drive down the highway or road and all of a sudden realize that you don't actually remember anything to that point of time? That's hypnosis.
That's due to divided attention. You're basically paying attention to something else (a conversation with the passenger, the radio, the little voice in your head). I think it would be a hard case to make to say that hypnosis is causing people to be so distracted that they don't realize what they are doing or what happened to them.
C
Chazwozel
That's due to divided attention. You're basically paying attention to something else (a conversation with the passenger, the radio, the little voice in your head). I think it would be a hard case to make to say that hypnosis is causing people to be so distracted that they don't realize what they are doing or what happened to them.[/QUOTE]
I was referring to highway hypnosis. Where you're in a functional relaxed state.
That's due to divided attention. You're basically paying attention to something else (a conversation with the passenger, the radio, the little voice in your head). I think it would be a hard case to make to say that hypnosis is causing people to be so distracted that they don't realize what they are doing or what happened to them.[/QUOTE]
I was referring to highway hypnosis. Where you're in a functional relaxed state.[/QUOTE]
Okay, but not all driving amnesia comes from that.
Hypnosis is one of those things that is really sensationalized, but really is just a state of being extremely relaxed and aware at the same time. I think the unlocking lost memories thing is complete bullocks. As far as handling addictions go, it all hinges on the subject's willingness to allow it to succeed.
No. (in my professional opinion)
Temporarily, it seems. With something like smoking, people do smoke less after an hypnosis session but the effect fades and they usually need to be rehypnotized frequently.
Not really. Post hypnotic suggestions can be implanted, which is what they do in therapy for smokers, but they don't really make people behave in spontaneous ways like that. It might work for a very short duration, as during a hypnosis act, I suppose.
C
Chazwozel
No. (in my professional opinion)
Temporarily, it seems. With something like smoking, people do smoke less after an hypnosis session but the effect fades and they usually need to be rehypnotized frequently.
Not really. Post hypnotic suggestions can be implanted, which is what they do in therapy for smokers, but they don't really make people behave in spontaneous ways like that. It might work for a very short duration, as during a hypnosis act, I suppose.[/QUOTE]
Says you Mr. Fancy pants! It's been six months and I still think I'm a chicken!
IMA CHICKEN GUYS! A CHICKEN!
The only time I watched a Hypnotist in action, he was performing in a local bar in a college town. All the random people he picked to go on stage were Drama Majors I knew who did not frequent that bar.
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