Hypnosis related to Television

Hello Hypnosis Experts, :D

I am new to hypnosis and am just fascinated by it but I don't know all too much about it so I was hoping to get something explained by some with a bigger knowledge base on this. I appreciate any input.

I have started reading books on this topic and I'm currently reading a book by Dr. Hans Holzer and in it he talks about how lights and color can produce a form of hypnosis. He says, "Rapid color changes, for instance can cause dissociation of personality, while properly cued light effects can cause a person's attention to focus on the light source, resulting in hypnosis." Now what type of hypnosis is he talking about here? Are we truly hypnitized by it or is the light simply holding our attention?

Television is exactly that (lights and color, often changing rapidly) right? When a hypnotist hypnotizes you, you have to allow him to do so, in this case are we allowing television to hypnotize us? Does it cause dissociation of personality? And if so, how much has human kind changed since television got invented? Also is that why kids often can’t pull their eyes off the screen with mouth often hanging open or do they just find it entertaining and it has nothing more to do with hypnosis?

-K

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Permalink Reply by tc_Burt on August 28, 2010 at 6:35am

Shen, when you get caught up in the excitement or emotion of tv or a movie, you are buying into the experience presented to you, so to speak. When you are utilising your mind (conscious) and opinion whilst watching tv or a movie, you will not be 'caught up' in the moment but be analyzing the content for congruency as it's not resonating with you and/or your mood at that time.

Often in movies the experience is enhanced by mood, lighting, action, music, the characters and their personalities and the dialogue. If a particular character does not portray a part congruently (as in he doesn't fit, or seems wrong), then this will inhibit being swept up in the emotion or action, likewise will be anything else with which you cannot find a 'fit'. Movies in particular, are generally setup to appeal to most of the senses to invoke your involvement - sometimes very successfully and at other times not.

Even before television, when radio was very popular, music and dialogue were employed for drama series and horse races were called at an almost breathless pace which trully captured the attention of the 'invested' listeners. Football broadcasts also with the commentary and the sounds of the crowds in the background would also engage listeners in a similar fashion as they envisioned the action based on the commentary provided in emotional and breathtaking wording conveying emotion and action.

When you are not in the moment it is usually due to an incongruency with your reality, or a disassociated state. Neither words nor pictures alone will engage you fully and will be dependant on the context and you.

Shen Client said:

I hear what you're saying... I just don't see the difference between, "utilizing your imagination to experience the author's imagination" and "reacting to the director's imagination". It seems that in both cases someone else's story is being told and one reacts to it. It seems as if in both instances one would both use one's own mind, opinions, thought processes and those of the author/director. Is it that visual images have more impact on the psyche than written or spoken words?

Michael Ellner said:
Great point - Shen.

Yes, there was hypnosis long before there was TV - Every human interaction has the potential to be a hypnotic experience... And there was a time that we travelled on/by foot. In the same way that we can cover a lot more ground in a lot less time putting our feet into a jet ... Movies, TV and Computer games are high tech hypnotic devices... When you are absorbed in a great book you are utilizing your imagination to experience the author's imagination - When you are absorbed in a movie you are reacting to the director's imagination...

Best,
Michael

Shen Client said:
I am no expert... I'm new like you. I do want to say this, however:

Before television, there was radio. Before radio, there were books. Before books there were stories. Go all the way back to the hypnotic flames of a tribal fire and I believe you will find people who are hypnotised and swayed by the words of the storyteller. Shamanism is (I believe) very much about hypnotic states, and is older than history.

I don't believe television itself has changed man... but the kinds of messages that are delivered have changed and so it may be the messages that have changed us rather than the concept of television itself.

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Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig - HypnosisAustin on August 28, 2010 at 8:32am

Why on earth would repeated experience of hypnotic states slow the mind's development? If anything, repeated hypnosis, like regular meditation, will enhance and benefit the mind.

Of course, that can depend on the content. Television tells stories, and many people structure their lives to resemble the stories they hear. (Psychologists call this a "life script.") So if you watch a steady diet of soap operas and daytime talk shows that feature people in dysfunctional relationships, you may--emphasis on may--end up structuring your life to resemble those stories.

I remember noticing once that I had a group of acquaintances whose lives were constant drama. They would frequently say things like, "My life is such a soap opera!" and "I wonder what will happen next!"

It puzzled me, because my life is not like a soap opera. Finally I realized that they were making their lives be soap operas, because they had uncritically absorbed operatic stories that formed their life scripts. My life was not a soap opera because I chose not to live that way.

Part of what we do as hypnotists is de-hypnotize people and help them create better life scripts.

That said, television and video games have given people an amazing chance to develop their imaginative abilities. If you don't believe tv watching involves the imagination, watch a show being made. Conversations between two people may be filmed in two totally different locations on different days, but our minds fill in the gaps to create a single scene.

Movies have served to introduce obscure concepts to the general populace. In 1974, your average American was unfamiliar with the idea that there is a universal energy that flows through everything in the cosmos. "Chi" was some weird Asian idea. But by 1978, if you described Chi to an American audience, most would nod and say, "Oh, like the Force . . . "

The Matrix movies did the same thing for the concept of the holographic universe.

I hope this is making sense,

James

K U said:

Yes Mohammed, it does answer my question, thank you! I appreciate all the feedback!

You say that television has changed our way of being and behaving. Do you believe that that change has been all negative?? Have it slowed our minds development with all the hypnotic states that we keep getting put in??

-K
Mohammed Magsi said:
Hi K,

Anything can be used for hypnosis including rapid colour changes or your voice. Hypnosis is merely a tool to help relax. Once the client is relaxed s/he is able to concentrate on their issue and able to resolve it without manipulate themselves or their thoughts. You know when you are watching your favourite television programme and you don't realise how quick the time has passed. That time while you were watching your programme was your hypnotic state.

Clients only change what they wish to change or accept the suggestions which makes sense to them is very true.

Can hypnotise someone without their wish if you know how? Totally unethical and unprofessional but is possible.

Your question about how much has human kind changed since television broadcast is a very interesting. Television has changed the way of being. We are influenced by what we see on television and how we are made to behave in certain manner because of the media.

I hope this answers your question.

Mohammed