I don’t think the state of “awake” but not “conscious” is new. It’s a trance state which is quite frequently used in hypnosis. I don’t think there’s anything surprising about the fact that you can induce such a trance state where the person isn’t conscious by stimulating specific parts of the brain.
Is that actually the same thing? I was under hypnosis once, and it wasn’t that I wasn’t thinking at all, just less. I would expect not conscious to mean I had no awareness of what is going on.
It depends on the depth of the trance. If you are in a light trance than you will still remember thinking a bit. When it comes to deep trance stages, it’s possible to induce a trance in someone and do something for 10 minute and then wake the person up without the person having an awareness that ten minutes have passed.
I don’t think this is the same. There is no memory of the event with the electrical stimulation and my (very limited) impression of hypnosis is that there’s nothing about the process in itself that stops you from being able to remember.
“The same” would assumt that hypnosis is always done in the same state. That’s not true.
I have plenty of experiences where I myself don’t remember certain parts of a hypnosis session but no suggestions where given not to remember that part.
There are plenty hypnotherapist who think that you don’t need a state a state where everything is forgotten to give successful suggestions. The client not remembering everything can produce problems with getting the client feel that hypnosis is working for them.
The hypnotic induction is just a Ritual designed to convince the client that they can be “hypnotized” in a way that matches their preconceptions. After the first session, it’s much more efficient to use an instant reinduction trigger or suggestions like “I can hypnotize you in hundreds of ways impossible to resist” or “all my suggestion will work easily, automatically, whether or not you think you’re hypnotized, in exactly the way that benefits you most”.
As for amnesia, stage techniques are awesome. It’s really hard to doubt you’ve been hypnotized when you count your 11 fingers, can’t get up from the chair or watch your arm grow to twice the size.
The hypnotic induction is just a Ritual designed to convince the client that they can be “hypnotized” in a way that matches their preconceptions.
’With that definition you define hypnosis in a way where hypnosis has nothing to do with trance. It’s certainly possible to give another person suggestions that do work without having the person in a somnambulistic state.
That no useful definition if you want to talk about how certain trance states come with amnesia.
I had multiple times the experience of creating a trance state in someone that causes amnesia without giving suggestions for amnesia and without the person thinking they were supposed to have amnesia.
As for amnesia, stage techniques are awesome. It’s really hard to doubt you’ve been hypnotized when you count your 11 fingers, can’t get up from the chair or watch your arm grow to twice the size.
Yes, you can do those things. It’s commonly called convincers. On the other hand feats like counting 11 fingers are not phenomena that will succeed for every subject the first time.
Not everyone that is hypnotized will experience amnesia though, and for the most part, amnesia is suggested or expected, but it sure doesn’t seem limited to that.
That such suggestions actually work may well be a myth. On the other hand, the idea that this suggestion is often given is not. I have no experience with live hypnosis, but I have, of my curiosity, found various (purported to be) hypnosis induction soundtracks on the web, and “when you awake you will not remember this but the suggestions will continue to work” was a frequent theme. Perhaps this is life imitating the myth.
Meeeehhhh. I would bet that if you’re actually reducing someone’s level of consciousness, they really won’t remember being semi-conscious or unconscious. They just won’t process much information at all in that deep a “trance”, which stops it being very useful from a psychotherapeutic perspective.
I don’t think the state of “awake” but not “conscious” is new. It’s a trance state which is quite frequently used in hypnosis. I don’t think there’s anything surprising about the fact that you can induce such a trance state where the person isn’t conscious by stimulating specific parts of the brain.
Is that actually the same thing? I was under hypnosis once, and it wasn’t that I wasn’t thinking at all, just less. I would expect not conscious to mean I had no awareness of what is going on.
It depends on the depth of the trance. If you are in a light trance than you will still remember thinking a bit. When it comes to deep trance stages, it’s possible to induce a trance in someone and do something for 10 minute and then wake the person up without the person having an awareness that ten minutes have passed.
I don’t think this is the same. There is no memory of the event with the electrical stimulation and my (very limited) impression of hypnosis is that there’s nothing about the process in itself that stops you from being able to remember.
“The same” would assumt that hypnosis is always done in the same state. That’s not true. I have plenty of experiences where I myself don’t remember certain parts of a hypnosis session but no suggestions where given not to remember that part.
There are plenty hypnotherapist who think that you don’t need a state a state where everything is forgotten to give successful suggestions. The client not remembering everything can produce problems with getting the client feel that hypnosis is working for them.
The hypnotic induction is just a Ritual designed to convince the client that they can be “hypnotized” in a way that matches their preconceptions. After the first session, it’s much more efficient to use an instant reinduction trigger or suggestions like “I can hypnotize you in hundreds of ways impossible to resist” or “all my suggestion will work easily, automatically, whether or not you think you’re hypnotized, in exactly the way that benefits you most”.
As for amnesia, stage techniques are awesome. It’s really hard to doubt you’ve been hypnotized when you count your 11 fingers, can’t get up from the chair or watch your arm grow to twice the size.
’With that definition you define hypnosis in a way where hypnosis has nothing to do with trance. It’s certainly possible to give another person suggestions that do work without having the person in a somnambulistic state. That no useful definition if you want to talk about how certain trance states come with amnesia.
I had multiple times the experience of creating a trance state in someone that causes amnesia without giving suggestions for amnesia and without the person thinking they were supposed to have amnesia.
Yes, you can do those things. It’s commonly called convincers. On the other hand feats like counting 11 fingers are not phenomena that will succeed for every subject the first time.
I have heard it said that anyone in a “deep trance”, required for some hypnosis things, will not remember it.
But I know very little about hypnosis, and I may be misremembering.
The “when you wake up you won’t remember this” part of hypnosis is a myth.
It actually happens
Not everyone that is hypnotized will experience amnesia though, and for the most part, amnesia is suggested or expected, but it sure doesn’t seem limited to that.
That such suggestions actually work may well be a myth. On the other hand, the idea that this suggestion is often given is not. I have no experience with live hypnosis, but I have, of my curiosity, found various (purported to be) hypnosis induction soundtracks on the web, and “when you awake you will not remember this but the suggestions will continue to work” was a frequent theme. Perhaps this is life imitating the myth.
Meeeehhhh. I would bet that if you’re actually reducing someone’s level of consciousness, they really won’t remember being semi-conscious or unconscious. They just won’t process much information at all in that deep a “trance”, which stops it being very useful from a psychotherapeutic perspective.