Episode 76 - Voice Flame Extinguisher

[FrothyChimp]

Having had experience conducting hypnosis, the switch to stage hypnosis methods made quite a bit of sense. Clinical hypno-therapists prefer to make the technique as legitimate a tool as possible. Their methods are very controlled and predictable as was seen in the video. The use of EEG and a standard induction method would be expected. Consistency is key. At no point would a therapist move away from these methods to shock induction even when a subject is having difficulty reaching a relaxed state. Hypno-therapists and stage hypnotists have the same relationship as mimes and clowns. They don't like each other. Hypno-therapists don't believe hypnosis should be used for stage entertainment and stage hypnotists don't like stuffy researchers cramping their style.

It only takes knowledge that the individual is a hypnotist for shock induction to work. I'm sure prior to filming he went over the things he can do and his abilities on the stage. He probably talked about his routine as well as other work he's done in order to legitimize his position and abilities. That's all it takes. Now when he hypnotized Tory there was no prior knowledge of exactly how he would hypnotize him. The shock is what did him in. The other two seeing how fast it happened knew at that point that it works and they were done for.

I think we must understand what state hypnotized people are in. Detractors make claims they are in an altered state of consciousness which is not true. The subject is actually in a very relaxed state of consciousness. They hear and see and respond like any other person. The effect of hypnosis allows a little more access to processing below the conscious level. It in no way gives complete access. The subject must want to allow the hypnotist to implant suggestion. Trust is key. No trust, no successful suggestion even if the person manages to make it to the relaxed state. Stage hypnotists seek out those who will allow them to make suggestions for entertainment. Not everyone gets to be hypnotized since it could prove fatal to the career of the hypnotist. They really look for individuals who will play the part without hesitation.

Often people who have been hypnotized will awaken at the end of a session and apologize that it didn't work believing because they heard every word of what was going on that it failed. This is why you cannot make a hypnotized person do anything they would not readily want to do. Frankly, I would not have had Grant draw hearts on DeadBlow. I would have had him do hearts on, perhaps, his notes while he's thinking about a problem. That would have been a bit easier to get by his filter. You could see by his reaction he did have an urge to do something when the phrase "Quantum Physics" was mentioned but he realized it was very weird what that urge told him to do and caught on very quickly as to why it was happening.

[lauren]

This episode was great, as I've been very interested in hypnosis techniques for a long time (thanks to a British magician/'psychological illusionist' called Derren Brown - who incidentally, just did a stunt whereby he put a man to sleep in a phone booth in london, got him into a wheelchair, to the airport, on a plane and into a busy marketplace 13 hours later in Marrakech and then let him wake up in an identical phone booth*).

One thing I was hoping they'd address was the idea that due to the suggestibility of participants under hypnosis, it might be the case that Grant, Tory and Kari would come up with new details that weren't true or relevant (which may actually frame the wrong suspect in a real situation).

Were they given a chance to write down 'anything else significant' and did they get misses aswell as the hits?



*This was on "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat" shown last night on channel 4 here in the UK. A British newspaper called The Mirror actually followed him to Marrakech in the hope of catching them out and finding it to be faked but found that it was all done for real.

[RogueSpidor]

My son-in-law was very very susceptible to a stage hypnotist's efforts, including post-hypnotic instructions. He's a Double Agent for Best Buy's Geek Squad, and he was wearing his t-shirt at the time. He did many, many things that were embarrassing and hilarious, and didn't remember any of it.

Until the next day, which was when the hypnotist told him to remember it. He wouldn't talk to us for a while after that, and blushed a lot. I'm not sure why, although I suspect that it was due to the instructions he got after he was snapped out of the trance, which were to inform the entire audience who his employers are.

He announced, when the key phrase was said by the hypnotist, that he was with the Geek Squad, and that he was wearing women's underwear. He even pointed at his butt when he said it.

[river95]

"Curious critical point on the hypnosis test.  Were K, T and G asked those leading questions on the first test too?  Because, if not, their improved performance on the second test could be fully attributed to the leading questions improving their recall, and not the hypnosis. "  Quoted From M-A

M-A, after watching this again today, I figured out why he was reading the questions.  He was reading the test to them because they had their eyes closed when they were retaking the test - they couldn't see the questions.  It looks to me like they were writing their answers the second time on typing paper. 

[oscardeuce]

Misha's got the point about the explosion and the O2.

Like he said, the slow and high explosives carry enough oxidizer in their own molecules, it is just a matter of adding a bit of energy to start the reaction.

Like he said, the sudden expansion of a solid or liquid to vapor saturates the local atmosphere, and in the case of high explosives sets up a pressure wave. That wave is much like blowing out a candle. You are upsetting the heat/fuel/oxydizer triangle. Moving any one of these out of the envelope will extingish the fire. The local O2 is not "used up" it is diluted.

[Kelley]

I am very curious about this and the way they used the hypnosis... there are other forms of hypnosis, like Milton Erickson's school of thought - I personally have a lot of experience with Milton Erickson hypnosis and I would have been curious to have seen that in action as opposed to the two forms they used which were very theatrical and typical, in my opinion.

[SynjoDeonecros]

Hmm. So they busted the mind-control aspect of hypnosis...doesn't this directly contradict the "plausible" result they gave that same aspect in their general Mind Control test? I mean, sure, they showed that your brain is influenced a bit during hypnosis to be technically classified as "mind control", but they were testing pretty much what they were testing with the "do what I tell you to because you're under my spell" part of the hypnosis myths: that you can influence a person to do something against their will from a distance. So, in a way, this is pretty much a revisit and overturning of their previous mind-control experiment.

[Wolfyhound]

The ONLY aspects of Mind Control that were found Plausible were the Spinning Magnet, and the Remote Hypnosis... to clarify.  (I didn't rem remote hypnosis)
The Mind Control was more loosely interpted, and the plausible result was more "We see readings... vague ones..."
The Hynosis Myth was more specific, "Make someone do something against their will" type, and it was busted, as Grant didn't preform either actions, and Alice refused to even agree to it.
Wolfy

[jlmenni]

I am by no means an expert on this one, but I do remember reading that even under hynosis, a person will not break their morals or values.  So, having someone do something that they would not normaly do, or would have no ambition to do would be meaningless.  For the test to work, something would have to be suggested that the person has already done before on their own.  Something along the lines of something that they have done, and that they have no problems doing, just that they don't do it that often.

They could re test this.  Have their test taget hypnotised, then have the command something that could possably happen in normal situation that the person would be in.  The reaction to the command would have to be something that the person would do on their own.  Say that the command is a two word phrase.  A simple reaction would be for another simple word responce.  The best way to test this is to have the responce word make very litte sence to the command words.   Say that the command phrase is "I got it!"  The responce phrase could be "F--- you!"  This could work  if the target is prone to swearing.  Of course for this to work, the bleep button will have to be ready, but it would still be funny to see, and good proof that hypnotism does work.

[mishabear]

The myth was that someone can be 'programmed' to kill someone else, on cue, as is often shown in movies. The answer is no, the movie myth is once again BUSTED. Having them do something they already do is hardly a test of post hypnotic suggestion. You could also just ask them to do it verbally, right then and there, and get the same result!

Mike

[SynjoDeonecros]

Plus, they supplemented the test with suggestions that the subject ''might'' do, like scratching one's ear or jumping up and down; neither Grant nor the producer even complied with THOSE, so even with things that they would do under normal circumstances, you can't hypnotize them to do so on command if they don't want to.

I find this result highly entertaining when thinking back to a website I was sent to by a friend for sexual fetish-based hypnotherapy sessions; some of them even claimed to be able to physically change the target, and the more extreme ones came with warnings that they were so powerful, they are rendered irreversible after a set time under its influence. I can just imagine someone using them on their partner, really wanting them to work, only to get a look of "are you crazy?!" from their significant other when they put the sessions into practice.