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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
 Posted - 05/23/2004 : 14:59:16
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At a post prom party, the school hired a hypnotist to come in and do the show. He picked about 10 people, but he picked them by giving them a "hypnosis test" where he would see if they could or couldn't be hypnotized (I would think this was so his selection was not random, but predetermined). So he has the people in chairs and basically makes them pass out. He also says that they will remember nothing afterwards. So he makes them do all these abnormal things like pretending to be in a rock band and such.
Now there were a couple things that I noticed. First and probably the most important, all the people he picked were deeply involved with the school. I'm talking like president of our class and such. Second, a friend, Abby, smirked when she was supposed to be passed out, because of the crowd's laughter (you know, one person laughs and something inside of you just makes you laugh as well).
I read some articles on the internet how hypnosis can not make people do things or make them forget about what they did, however just put you in an altered mind state and make you more suggestible. I just want to make sure this is correct.
The other thing that really took me for horror is how many people actually thought it was real. I mean, I think I was the only one who even suggested that it was staged. In the ends after about a week of debating, I convinced 3 people it was staged and the rest still stick to it was real. And these are not stupid people I'm talking about, these are people who have like 1500 sat scores and almost all AP courses. I still can't figure out how such people could easily be fooled.
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Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 17:15:55 [Permalink]
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Intelligence does not negate gullibility. Very smart people get taken to the cleaners all the time. We all see only what we want to see.
In my estimation, you did quite well to convince as many as three.
I think that the problem is that, for the most part, only facts and figures are presented in classes. Critical thinking, to better understand those facts and figures as well as outside matters such as hypnotists, is not.
And more's the pity.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 19:13:17 [Permalink]
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"In my estimation, you did quite well to convince as many as three."
Haha, thanks. One of the three was mostly a skeptic, but he was taken in by the whole thing and started to believe it, so I just pointed out how absurd it was for this to work and he "saw the light". So, that one was easy, but the other two took a lot of work. What really amazed me was their arguments for it. A friend, Renita, was part of the act, and so when I questioned the validity of it, they called her over and asked her if it was fake and of course she said "no", and they litterally said, "There, thats proves it."
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Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov |
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tomk80
SFN Regular
Netherlands
1278 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2004 : 14:40:15 [Permalink]
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They did a similar show at my university. It didn't seem staged though, since he took first graders who had their first day at the university. So prior involvement seemed very unlikely. Furthermore, if what he let them do was acted, they sure as hell were very good actors.
He did test whether they were susceptible for hypnosis first. The power of illusions and make belief is pretty well documented, and I do not doubt that it could make hypnosis work. |
Tom
`Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll- |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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tomk80
SFN Regular
Netherlands
1278 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 08:57:54 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
Well, with the smirk, I can gaurantee that this was staged. I guess with first graders, you tell them to do something and they will normally do it, hypnosis or not (as long as its "play").
Might be. In my case it did seem quite real, and I would've been quite embarrased if I were some of them. Wasn't really paying too much critical attention though, since it was funny as hell  |
Tom
`Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll- |
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Maglev
Skeptic Friend
Canada
65 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 09:23:12 [Permalink]
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I remember a show on tv (I believe it was Nova on PBS) where a teacher (along with stutents in his class) "simulate" a hypnosis show; the teacher pretented to hypnotise a few students, and they proceded to fake most of the classic things one would see in such a show. I remember several students "floating" another student with only their fingers, one hate an onion while pretending it was an apple, etc...
In the end, the fake show was remarkably similar to a "real" show. In fact, it was exactly the same thing! The audience, the hypnotist and the hypnotised all reacted exactly as if the show was "real". I remember the teacher went do far as to ask if the seance was real or faked; half the students beleived it was real!
Before the advent of television, hypnotists had to have a "fake" in the audience. The idea was to show the rest of the audience what an hypnotised subject looked/acted like. The same thing applies to people going in a "transe".
Never ever under-estimate the power of suggestion :) |
Maglev
"The awe it inspired in me made the awe that people talk about in respect of religious experience seem, frankly, silly beside it. I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day."
--Douglas Adams, on evolutionary biology. |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2004 : 16:03:00 [Permalink]
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I was at a lecture once by a guy (who I believe was a doctor, though I'm not sure) who was called "the stress doctor". He specialised in lectures and research in stress management.
One of his hobbies was to treat girls with eating-disorders.
Anyway, some of the points in his lecture was that by knowing how stress works, the negative sides but also the positive side of it, you can use it to your benefit and take steps to reduce the negative effects.
Hypnosis was brought up in relation to people's ability to create a mindset in which the negative impact of stress could be reduced. To prove his point, he took a few people out of the audience (co-workers of mine) and started with the hypnosis-test that would show in what category they were. He said there were three major categories of people, those who were hard, easy, or in-between, to hypnotise.
He didn't do any of those parlour/stage magic tricks like making people bark at the moon and such, but demonstrated who the body could be made to perform tasks without the conscious mind controlling it.
One girl who was in need of a neck/shoulder massage got an imaginary one done to her, by the way of him explaining to her that his suggestions about how the blood-flow would increase and the tension being relieved, would work just like the workings of a real massage.
While he was talking to her, explaining to her how it worked, I could see her shoulders relax more and more. And later, after the session I sneaked up to overhear her telling her friends how amazed she was that it actually worked. Remember, I worked with this girl, and I knew that her work was an ergonomic disaster.
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