For example, there has been a HUGE amount of research into hypnotizability. This research is basically attempting to identify whether some people are more hypnotizable than others and also attempts to discover why!

But findings of recent research published last week, suggests that hypnotizability may be related to biological factors not psychological factors!

Because a parasite has been found that hypnotizes rats to behave recklessly around cats. Why would a parasite want to do that? Well, it seems that the parasite has to breed inside the cats gut. But, it lives on rats! (How badly organized is that?)

Anyway, nature does have an amazing ability to “find a way” - and so it has here.

Researchers have known for some time that the parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a puppeteer that can force a rat to go against its own instincts and become attracted to the scent of cat urine

OK, we know that there are substances that can increase a person’s susceptibility to hypnosis. But this is a new twist to that that old saw - it will be interesting to see how these results will be commercialized.

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The programme, which will be aired on digital channel Fiver …. in November, explores how hypnosis can be used as a tool to help increase sexual pleasure.

Take a hypnotherapist, a glamor model who “wants to see if it was possible to increase her sexual pleasure” and a TV crew that are not shy about exploring this question with her - and we have a show that is guaranteed to get a big following!

Corinne was reported to be a good hypnosis subject, so when the hypnotherapist gave her the ‘right’ hypnotic suggestions, she was able to increase her sexual pleasure.

In other words, according to the press release on the show, the hypnotic suggestions did work!

Sexy model, Clair Meek, in a recently filmed ‘Generation Sex’ show

The show is entertaining, as well as informative and controversial as the following promo video shows”

Please, UK readers, put a copy of this part of the show on YouTube for those of us not in the UK !

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Consumerism is the result of mass hypnosis?

All you need do, they suggest, is slip these statements into your sales copy and you will get better sales results. Here are some samples of their ‘mass hypnosis’ copy:

3. After you read this short ad you will feel like your problems are almost completely solved, all you will have to do is order.

4. As you’re skimming through this, you’re beginning to think you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying out our product.

5. As you’re scanning over this ad copy, you are beginning to imagine using our product and enjoying all the benefits it brings.

And they are not entirely “out of their tree” on this, because research has demonstrated that “authoritative statements” contribute to success in hypnosis.

As previous posts have also revealed, some people are more hypnotizable than others. But for this technique to work, a business really needs to have a large enough customers base that the percentage that are suggestible will generate all the sales they need.

Because those that are not suggestible are likely to be put off by these transparent attempts at manipulation!

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Technorati Tags: consumerism, hypnotic control, mass hypnosis, mind control

Maybe a good place to start is with the less critical creatures of the planet!

Urban myth says various animals can be hypnotized - and its true…. though perhaps the techniques involved are less sophisticated than those needed to hypnotize a human.

Still, if you can’t hypnotize a chook, then you know you need to do some more study!

Here is how its done (Wikipedia):

A chicken can be hypnotized, or put into a trance, by holding its head down against the ground, and continuously drawing a line along the ground with a stick or a finger, starting at its beak and extending straight outward in front of the chicken. If the chicken is hypnotized in this manner, it will remain immobile for somewhere between 15 seconds and 30 minutes, continuing to stare at the line.

If you want to develop this skill then check out Sergeant Oz who’s life dream is to become the “Kevin Stone” of the chicken world! Or if you want a more scientific approach then I recommend you get the details from chicken hypnotism instructor Dr Doris White. who outlines three methods for hypnotizing chickens.

Other animals can be hypnotized as well. Check out this croc getting hypnotized!

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Did you know that there are four main techniques for hypnotizing a person? Briefly, these are:

1) Fixed gaze technique (eyes fixed on an object)

2) Gradual relaxation and imagery technique

3) Forceful commands technique

4) Rhythmic rocking technique

We will cover all these methods over the next few posts. For now, however, let’s look at the first method. It is the most well known technique and is commonly associated with the swinging watch!

Therapists, however, tend to favor the second technique. Not necessarily because it is the most potent method. Research suggests that few therapists are skilled or knowledgeable about hypnotic techniques and so are reluctant to experiment on their clients!

But there are some good guidelines provided for those who would like to try this method. Stamford University has developed the

STANFORD HYPNOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY SCALE,

which provides quite a good overview of how to proceed and also hypnosis scripts for both easy and more difficult to hypnotize people.

As you will see when you read through the method, two aspects of the hypnosis process are particularly important.

Firstly, it is important that the person to be hypnotized trusts the person doing the hypnosis. Secondly, it is important that the person being hypnotized believes that they can be hypnotized!

More on this in later posts but research has shown that attitude to hypnosis is one factor that strongly influences susceptibility to hypnosis!

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COLOR ME HYNOTIZED: Under hypnosis, people saw shades of gray in this pattern of brightly-colored rectangles. Brain scans showed that hypnosis changed the way the brain worked.

According to the researchers, Kosslyn and Thompson:

…the right side of the brain alone responded to what the subjects saw when they were not hypnotized, but both sides responded under hypnosis.

What we have shown for the first time, is that hypnosis changes conscious experience in a way not possible when we are not under hypnosis.

BUT - importantly, Kosslyn and Thompson only got these results for people that they had previously identified as ” highly hypnotizables” They did not get the same changes in brain function or change in perception of color for those that scored low on the hypnotizability scale.

For we mere mortals, we can take two important conclusions away from this experiment.

1) Hypnotism has a real power to change the way people think

2) We need to be able to identify those people that are “hypnotizable” if we are to be successful in using the power of hypnosis. (However, there is some research that suggests we have the power to influence this one - more on this in the next post)

Want to know if someone can be hypnotised? Give them this quiz (developed by some big wigs psychologists- see below):

1. Do you have many vivid memories from your early childhood?
   Yes | No
2. Do you tend to lose yourself in movies, books, or TV shows?
   Yes | No
3. Do you tend to know what people are going to say before they say it?
   Yes | No
4. Do powerful visual images ever trigger a physical sensation in you? For example, do you feel thirsty during the desert scenes in Lawrence of Arabia?
   Yes | No
5. Have you ever zoned out while going somewhere and wondered how you’d gotten there?
   Yes | No
6. Do you sometimes think in images rather than in words?
   Yes | No
7. Do you ever sense when someone has entered a room, even before seeing him?
   Yes | No
8. Do you like to look at cloud shapes?
   Yes | No
9. Do smells evoke powerful memories for you?
   Yes | No
10. Have you ever been deeply moved by a sunset?
    Yes | No

The more “yeses” they give, the more hypnotizable they are! For detailed scoring follow this link

(NB: This quiz was developed by Auke Tellegen, Ph.D., emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis; and Etzel Cardeña, Ph.D., chair of psychology and anthropology at the University of Texas-Pan American, in Edinburg)

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This light hearted look at hypnosis raises the primal question:

Can we trust ANYONE with this power?

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Take the question of “suggestibility” There have been numerous studies attempting to find out what, if anything, makes people more suggestible. Apart from increasing the number of words that no-one can pronounce let alone understand, confusion seems to have been the main result.

Research finds that SUCCESS IN HYPNOSIS DEPENDS ON MOTIVATION

More on this in a later post. For now we can get some clarity on the subject from an experienced hypnotist Joshua Seth, who had some definitive points to make when interviewed for the Stamford University rag, The Stamford Daily

According to Seth, we can use hypnotism to hot up our sex life and get way better financial deals! Some excerpts from the interview may raise your eyebrows:

BS: Have you ever erotically hypnotized a girlfriend?

JS: Yeah, why not? Wouldn’t you, if you could?……. Read more

and…

BS: Do you get really good deals when you buy a car?

JS: Hypnosis can be applied to sales techniques and all areas of human influence, so it’s very useful when closing deals, negotiating rates, romancing people……Read more

He also provides some insights into this concept of “suggestibility”:

JS: ….A hypnotist is looking for genuine enthusiasm. I give hypnotic pretests, where everyone in the audience gets to experience it. The key to being able to be hypnotized is to want to be hypnotized. If people are there just to try to prove they can’t be hypnotized, they’re just working against themselves.

As you will see in an upcoming post, recent research does indeed suggest that success in hypnosis depends on motivation. Does that explain Seth’s success in getting good car deals?

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Hypnosis has been used as a way to entertain (stage hypnosis), as a way to heal disorders (medical hypnosis) and as a way to dominate and control others!

In a relatively new application, hypnosis is being used as a tool for “focus group” research by marketers. Perhaps it is only surprising that it has taken so long to be used as a publicly acknowledged tool for marketing! And it is catching on fast as more and more companies are rushing to get in on the new buzz marketing strategy.

Brandvisioning, for example, suggest that:

By accessing the subconscious mind of their consumer, marketers can gain new, and sometimes surprising information…..Hypnosis is the best way to get access to the deepest area of the consumer’s mind.

The twist, of course, is that there is no suggestion that the consumer is being controlled, here. Rather, hypnosis is being used to more accurately “mine” information from consumers.

What’s more, big businesses is spending serious money to use hypnosis this way. Companies like Volvo, no less, are relying on these techniques.

In a recent report, Keith Hein noted

Volvo equals safety. In focus group after focus group, participants said the same thing. So, Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, did the obvious thing: It called in a hypnotist.

Members of these unique Volvo focus groups were asked to test-drive the car. Immediately afterwards they were hypnotized and asked their true feelings about the brand. It wasn’t pretty: Many revealed that Volvo also equals being middle-aged. That idea “for some people was suffocating,” said Michael Fanuele, head of planning at Euro. “Hypnosis helped get past the cliches. We needed the conversation to get to a deeper, more emotional place.”

In other words, hypnosis now offers a whole new way for doing market research!!

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Most people don’t like the thought of giving control of their thoughts or actions to someone else -understandably! But Hollywood and stage shows have both used hypnosis as a means of entertaining their audiences.

And it is more entertaining to present hypnosis as having dramatic effects - perhaps even sinister! Anyone who has watched a stage show about hyponosis will know how it seems as if the hypnotist has conplete control over his subjects.

“Not so!” says David Kay, UK Hypnotist. In fact, he says:

“There is no question of losing control or being made to do anything against your will by using hypnosis. You are in control throughout the session. Experiments have proved that people cannot be made to do anything that is truly against their will, or against their values, either during the hypnotic session or afterwards. The unwanted or noxious suggestion is always rejected.” Follow this link for more on myths.

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