hypnosis-real science or woo?

JonWhite said:
Yeah, but how would you know that your bashful chick didn't have some repressed exhibitionist desires that the situation allowed to be displayed in a (relatively) guilt free manner?

It's always the quiet ones... :D
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....those are the best ones!!! :D
 
JonWhite said:
Yeah, but how would you know that your bashful chick didn't have some repressed exhibitionist desires that the situation allowed to be displayed in a (relatively) guilt free manner?

It's always the quiet ones... :D
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O.K. How about a muslim woman in full burgha? Now that would open your eyes, I'll bet!
Then again, they could have an impulse to strip as well, after all hiding their bodies from us perv...er men must have an effect on them. It's not natural to hide the beauty of a woman's body.
Regards Angelo.
 
robinson said:
If you don't know what Doo Wah Diddy means by now, I'm not going to tell you.
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Don't be so mean. I'm sure we all want to know what it means.
If I hear that song one more time, I will slash my wrists.
Manfred Man had better hits than that excuse for a song, yet it's the only tune that's ever played on the radio of the group. :mad:
 
robinson said:
Sometimes it is the really loud ones, especially if they have huge hooters.
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I love them all. Small hooters or big, as long as they have beautiful legs. Of course big hooters would be a bonus.:D
 
An important thing to know about hypnosis shows is that if you can remember the induction technique used you can do it yourself. What you saw is what you got. Hypnotists have no special powers. If you can reproduce what they say and do you will reproduce their results. It takes nerve more than anything.
 
Reading all the posts about hypnosis has confirmed my suspicion that it's all bunkum. Especially the medical type. As an entertainment tool it has merit providing you find the right people.
 
ambnp said:
Don't be so mean. I'm sure we all want to know what it means.
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The thing is, if you are an adult, and you haven't figured out what it means yet, it would be a waste of time to try and explain it. For example, hypnosis is a well studied, scientific concept, yet some simply resist any evidence that it even exist. Why bother to educate someone with that level of woo thinking? :D

The imaging studies also showed increased activation in two other brain structures -- the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia. The researchers speculate that increased activity in these two regions may be part of an inhibition pathway that blocks the pain signal from reaching the higher cortical structures responsible for pain perception. However, Schulz-Stubner noted that more detailed fMRI images are needed to definitively identify the exact areas involved in hypnosis-induced pain reduction, and he hoped that the newer generation of fMRI machines would be capable of providing more answers.

"Imaging studies like this one improve our understanding of what might be going on and help researchers ask even more specific questions aimed at identifying the underlying mechanism," Schulz-Stubner said. "It is one piece of the puzzle that moves us a little closer to a final answer for how hypnosis really works.

"More practically, for clinical use, it helps to dispel prejudice about hypnosis as a technique to manage pain because we can show an objective, measurable change in brain activity linked to a reduced perception of pain," he added.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050326100346.htm

Only in the past 40 years have scientists been equipped with instruments and methods for discerning the facts of hypnosis from exaggerated claims. But the study of hypnotic phenomena is now squarely in the domain of normal cognitive science, with papers on hypnosis published in some of the most selective scientific and medical journals. Of course, spectacles such as "stage hypnosis" for entertainment purposes have not disappeared. But the new findings reveal how, when used properly, the power of hypnotic suggestion can alter cognitive processes as diverse as memory and pain perception.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0008D31F-BD5B-1C6F-84A9809EC588EF21

Long article, well worth reading. PET scans as well as MRI have shown with out a doubt that hypnotic states exist, can be measured, and can't be "faked". Of course some people don't accept this, but what can you do?

Plenty of studies on PubMed as well. But don't listen to real scientist, just go with some anonymous "skeptic" who assures you hypnosis is all fakery, after all, skeptics know everything, and real scientist, with their fancy tests and machines and stuff, are dumb.

One can argue about anything. Some people still think diet has nothing to do with health, or that hypnosis is bunk. What can you do?

One version of the Stanford scales, for instance, consists of a series of 12 activities--such as holding one's arm outstretched or sniffing the contents of a bottle--that test the depth of the hypnotic state. In the first instance, individuals are told that they are holding a very heavy ball, and they are scored as "passing" that suggestion if their arm sags under the imagined weight. In the second case, subjects are told that they have no sense of smell, and then a vial of ammonia is waved under their nose. If they have no reaction, they are deemed very responsive to hypnosis; if they grimace and recoil, they are not.

This illustrates why a hypnotic "trance", or state, differs from relaxation. No matter how relaxed you are, a vial of ammonia isn't something you ignore. In fact, it is a method to bring somebody back to awareness. It can even wake you out of a sound sleep, at the very least there is a recoil from the ammonia, even while sound asleep.

Hypnosis is "a trancelike state that resembles sleep but is induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject"
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

I guess most people just accept that hypnosis is what the definition says it is. The Stanford Scale measures how strong the suggestions are accepted.
 
But, but, that is circular reasoning! You define hypnosis by the state, then measure the state with the defined characteristics!

Calm down there. A coma is defined by certain characteristics, or lack of responses, and determining if you are in a coma is done by checking the things that are used to define being in a coma.

Some would argue that you can fake being in a coma, but it isn't true. The tests used to determine being in a coma can't be fooled by even the most determined person. That is why those test are used to determine the state. This is how science works.
 
ambnp said:
I still insist the people you hypnotize WANT to perform the dirty stuff and will subject themselves to the tactics suggested to them. [ bless them] :)
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My understanding is that they either want to, or sufficiently don't want the social condemnation of breaking the performance.

So the combination of providing an excuse with moderate social pressure would seem to be all it takes.
 
robinson said:
One version of the Stanford scales, for instance, consists of a series of 12 activities--such as holding one's arm outstretched or sniffing the contents of a bottle--that test the depth of the hypnotic state. In the first instance, individuals are told that they are holding a very heavy ball, and they are scored as "passing" that suggestion if their arm sags under the imagined weight....
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Curious.

I've used a minor variation of the holding a heavy weight test quite a lot as both a "convincer" of the mind/body connection and as part of pre-hypnosis suggestability/suitability testing.

I have always thought of arm movement achieved as an ideo-motor response and not in any way indicative of an hypnotic state. After all, this works perfectly well with no formal hypnosis whatever.


ETA: a variation to try at home -

Sitting comfortably, hold your hands above your lap about 6 to 8 inches apart, palms facing each other. Take a deep and comfortable breath, and as you exhale allow your eyes to close. Now with great sensitivity, imagine a powerful magnetic field developing between your palms and drawing them together. Tune in to that magnetic force, get a mental sense of at being as real as you can and feel it pulling your hands together, all by itself....

For many, just focussing on the thought of the hands being drawn together will cause them to actually be so.
 
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JonWhite said:
Curious.

I've used a minor variation of the holding a heavy weight test quite a lot as both a "convincer" of the mind/body connection and as part of pre-hypnosis suggestability/suitability testing.

I have always thought of arm movement achieved as an ideo-motor response and not in any way indicative of an hypnotic state. After all, this works perfectly well with no formal hypnosis whatever.


ETA: a variation to try at home - Place your hands about 6 to 8 inches apart, palms facing each other. Take a deep and comfortable breath, and as you exhale allow your eyes to close. Now with great sensitivity, imagine a powerful magnetic field developing between your palms and drawing them together. Tune in to that magnetic force, and feel it pulling your hands together, all by itself....
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And you're absolutly right. It is ideo-meter response however, you are playing on the person's suggestablity. Do not underestimate the power of people's suggestablity. (with apologies to Darth Vador) :)

The only thing I'll say about this "state of hypnosis" is really truely a "state of concentration". During this "state of concentration" people tend to be more open to suggestion.

My job as a stage hypnotist is to find the most suggestable people and make them relaxed and concentrating enough to be open to my suggestions.

....guys, I'm giving away my professional secrets here.... :)
 
JFrankA said:
And you're absolutly right. It is ideo-meter response however, you are playing on the person's suggestablity. Do not underestimate the power of people's suggestablity. (with apologies to Darth Vador) :)

The only thing I'll say about this "state of hypnosis" is really truely a "state of concentration". During this "state of concentration" people tend to be more open to suggestion.
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For sure. It's more the idea of using an ideo-motor response as a measure of depth of being in a "hypnotic state" that seems odd.
 
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So it's agreed that hypnotherapy is a part of medical quackery? Like homeopathy et all.
 
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