Hypnotism

[addy]

Hypnotism; is it real?

There are experiments that have proven that the human brain works in funny ways, and it is easy to trick in some situations (like a gorilla dancing through a TV screen without anybody noticing, etc). But to what extent can it actually be manipulated?

In this video the guy appears to be slipping in subtle command phrases, like "Stop. Thinking about it...", and that supposedly tricks the subjects brains into forgetting something. I'm skeptical, but I can't completely be skeptical either because I've heard accounts of hypnotism being used not as a magic trick but as a technique in psychiatric medicine. So does that mean it actually works?

[Leanne]

I'm a massive fan of Derren Brown, and yes, it does work -- probably not as often as stage hypnotists would have us believe, of course. The technique in the video is simple misdirection, since people are very easily distracted, especially when they're involved in a fairly mindless activity like riding the train. It's really just a matter of understanding how people interpret clues in speech, voice tone, body language etc and then manipulating them. I can't do it though

Think about the way your brain works when you're dropping off to sleep at night -- especially if it's in front of the tv, since you'll often end up "dreaming" yourself into the tv show in some way, or wake up convinced you've seen the end of some program but getting it completely wrong. I remember once my other half was at a friend's place watching the Old Firm game (he's a Celtic fan, all the other guys were Rangers). It was quite late and I'd stayed home but thought I should watch the game myself so I knew what the score was... so I did... and I watched the whole thing... then when he came home, he seemed in a good mood and I assumed it was because Celtic had won 3-0 like I saw, so I told him it was a brilliant result. Turned out Celtic had lost 3-1 and I'd probably gone to sleep after the first 10 minutes, when they scored the first goal. I was not popular... but I'm still convinced I saw every minute of that game!

[billy]

i think it's hooey
i'm one of those plebs who believes he won't be hypnotized. i think it may be possible but i'm sure if it it is, the patient has to be a willing partner or an idiot. and even then when they're made to bark like dogs etc, they do realize what they're doing, they just want to be that person whose been hypnotized.

[Leanne]

Really?

Then you've never been persuaded to buy anything extra in a supermarket, or try out a new product because you saw it in an advert?

We're all suggestible, just some more than others.

[billy]

that to me would be gullibility.
i've never had anyone look into my eyes and tell me to buy this or that and then did.
advertising though nasty, isn't hypnotism, and i doubt subliminal ads are either.
hypnosis usually uses a form of trance/sleep in order to administer suggestion, i the medical world this could be done to lose weight or give up smoking. though even then it's questionable whether it works or not. it's also used to put people at ease, it isn't used to sell products in a supermarket, there they'll use the small of fresh baked bread etc, or the smell of leather. they don't put you to sleep

[popeye]

I reckon if a person has good self control it would be hard to tempt or hypnotise him/her, mho. Cheers