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Why-oh-why do I hear so much about hypnosis?
There seems to be an unhealthy interest and confidence in hypnosis around here. Allegedly, hypnosis bypasses a supposed instance in the mind that prevents arbitrary changes and experiences from happening.
In hypnosis, there are several huge fields; for the sake of my argument, I will focus on two of them: hypnosis for entertainment ("stage hypnosis") and hypnotherapy.
Stage hypnosis
One finds it hard to continue supporting the use of hypnosis when considering that there are several different approaches that are a lot more effective. For example, the evidence of "hypnotic" effects following the consumption of massive amounts of alcohol. Some of the "hypnotic" effects considered advanced are actually extremely commonplace when alcohol is involved. There exist countless reports of amnesia, doing things outside of conscious control, experiencing sensory distortions and hallucinations, and strong feelings of relaxation or wide ranges of unusual emotional responses.
It should be obvious that alcohol is an order of magnitude more accepted and similarly more effective than hypnosis can ever hope to be.
Even foregoing the use of alcohol as an enabling substance, it should be noted that there are completely natural alternatives to hypnosis that are considerably more pervasive in practice, such as the physiological sleep state. It is often associated with the most bizarre hallucinations (often very realistic, with a reduced ability to become aware of inconsistencies), sometimes tempered by complete amnesia, whole-body catalepsy in deep sleep states, and almost invariably a level of relaxation that is hard to match.
Another obvious facilitator of "hypnotic" effects is the presence of cameras. It is widely known that people drop into an altered state when looking at filmed material, and the same is true for being filmed: as can easily be seen by zapping through TV channels at any time of day, almost all people being filmed temporarily become completely incapable of making rational decisions.
It should be clear that hypnosis can't really be the tool of choice for entertainment.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis for therapeutic purposes doesn't really distinguish itself from other junk sciences. All evidence in favour of it can easily be discounted on the grounds of not being able to fulfil the requirements of empiric testability. For example, there is no known way to conduct serious double-blind experiments to test the validity of hypnosis.
It should also be noted that there is a lot more scientifically accepted evidence for cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). It is widely accepted amongst scientists as an effect mode of therapy. Obviously, since CBT has the most scientific support of all forms of psychotherapy, no other mode of therapy can possibly be more effective than CBT.
Another important factor in hypnotherapy is that it invariably communicates to the patient that he is not in full control of his actions and thoughts and beliefs, and doing should be considered irresponsible since a) it might get the patient to worry about his ability to function in everyday life, causing undue emotional stress, and b) arguably hypnosis sacrifices the patient's being comfortable with the mode of therapy for perceived increased effectiveness (which, as has been shown before, cannot be conclusively demonstrated).
Conclusion
There isn't really much room for debate here. Let's face it... hypnosis just can't hold up to comparison with almost any alternatives. I don't really see the point of even thinking about using hypnosis. I think it's fair to say that anyone who supports the use of hypnosis doesn't know anything. I would recommend that whenever you come across someone who advocates the use of hypnosis, completely dismiss everything that person says, has ever said, will say in the future, as well as everything that has ever been said (or will be said) in the presence of that person, his family, his friends, his neighbours or his fellow countrymen.
In hypnosis, there are several huge fields; for the sake of my argument, I will focus on two of them: hypnosis for entertainment ("stage hypnosis") and hypnotherapy.
Stage hypnosis
One finds it hard to continue supporting the use of hypnosis when considering that there are several different approaches that are a lot more effective. For example, the evidence of "hypnotic" effects following the consumption of massive amounts of alcohol. Some of the "hypnotic" effects considered advanced are actually extremely commonplace when alcohol is involved. There exist countless reports of amnesia, doing things outside of conscious control, experiencing sensory distortions and hallucinations, and strong feelings of relaxation or wide ranges of unusual emotional responses.
It should be obvious that alcohol is an order of magnitude more accepted and similarly more effective than hypnosis can ever hope to be.
Even foregoing the use of alcohol as an enabling substance, it should be noted that there are completely natural alternatives to hypnosis that are considerably more pervasive in practice, such as the physiological sleep state. It is often associated with the most bizarre hallucinations (often very realistic, with a reduced ability to become aware of inconsistencies), sometimes tempered by complete amnesia, whole-body catalepsy in deep sleep states, and almost invariably a level of relaxation that is hard to match.
Another obvious facilitator of "hypnotic" effects is the presence of cameras. It is widely known that people drop into an altered state when looking at filmed material, and the same is true for being filmed: as can easily be seen by zapping through TV channels at any time of day, almost all people being filmed temporarily become completely incapable of making rational decisions.
It should be clear that hypnosis can't really be the tool of choice for entertainment.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis for therapeutic purposes doesn't really distinguish itself from other junk sciences. All evidence in favour of it can easily be discounted on the grounds of not being able to fulfil the requirements of empiric testability. For example, there is no known way to conduct serious double-blind experiments to test the validity of hypnosis.
It should also be noted that there is a lot more scientifically accepted evidence for cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). It is widely accepted amongst scientists as an effect mode of therapy. Obviously, since CBT has the most scientific support of all forms of psychotherapy, no other mode of therapy can possibly be more effective than CBT.
Another important factor in hypnotherapy is that it invariably communicates to the patient that he is not in full control of his actions and thoughts and beliefs, and doing should be considered irresponsible since a) it might get the patient to worry about his ability to function in everyday life, causing undue emotional stress, and b) arguably hypnosis sacrifices the patient's being comfortable with the mode of therapy for perceived increased effectiveness (which, as has been shown before, cannot be conclusively demonstrated).
Conclusion
There isn't really much room for debate here. Let's face it... hypnosis just can't hold up to comparison with almost any alternatives. I don't really see the point of even thinking about using hypnosis. I think it's fair to say that anyone who supports the use of hypnosis doesn't know anything. I would recommend that whenever you come across someone who advocates the use of hypnosis, completely dismiss everything that person says, has ever said, will say in the future, as well as everything that has ever been said (or will be said) in the presence of that person, his family, his friends, his neighbours or his fellow countrymen.
Tags: bacon, hypnosis, junk science, scepticism
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by kirby vonshouse on -
hi jan, i feel the need to give the attention you crave. if i buy you a new Wii will you go away ? and now enlighted i will shut this site down and all the morons who belong. try "blatheringidiots.com" ! with mission accomplished you can move to bigger and better sites that dont mind that your boring. try twitter ! no need to waste more of your time here. thanx !
Jan Krüger said:kirby vonshouse said:
How good of you to point out the scientifically proven fact that I can't get laid. Personally, though, I am extremely sceptical of the theory that it has anything to do with me or the deodorant I use (or don't use; the jury is still out on that one).but babbling like that is one of the many reasons you cant get laid ...tried axe ?
If you ask me, the reason why I can't get laid has everything to do with the thermal radiation of the sun. Most people are not willing to really consider it, but there is absolutely no evidence that the thermal radiation of the sun is not caused by the secret clubs that really pull the strings in our society. In fact, there is no conclusive evidence that the reason other people always find excuses to leave whenever I arrive in a room has anything to do with anything but pure chance. No empirical results have ever been published regarding the alleged correlation or causation, so it would be completely unscientific to simply accept the alternative hypothesis.
I'll have you know, by the way, that I am not a second-year psychology student. I'm studying artificial intelligence. If we consider that virtually nobody is actually intelligent (and I'm no exception, obviously), I'm sure you will agree that that makes me a lot more qualified to talk about humans than any psychology degree ever could. And don't forget that I know I'm right... after all, I feel very confident in my opinion, and there are people who share my opinion.
I don't really want to discredit anyone who has a degree in anything, though... far from it. After all, it's a well-known fact that people with degrees can't possibly ever be idiots, and people with a degree are always completely and universally qualified because the people they learned from and the people who bestowed the degrees upon them are completely infallible... and they get all their knowledge directly from the mystical Repository of Absolute Truth, so it couldn't ever happen that anything taught in any study course or anything published in a scientific journal could ever be inaccurate. And the truly important point here is that it goes both ways: if you have a degree you are automatically infallible; if you don't have a degree, you are automatically unqualified, stupid and have bad breath.
@Adrian: to be honest, I have no idea what you're talking about. My memory isn't all that good. Some people claim it's because I'm using so much memory for knowing everything there is to know about everything in the world ever... but I don't really believe that. I think it's the secret clubs again... or perhaps bacon.
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Permalink Reply by Jan Krüger on -
kirby vonshouse said:
Thank you for taking the time to share this. Unfortunately, I did not understand your post at all, and since everything I don't understand is automatically irrelevant and/or wrong, I'm going to ignore everything you said.hi jan, i feel the need to give the attention you crave. if i buy you a new Wii will you go away ? and now enlighted i will shut this site down and all the morons who belong. try "blatheringidiots.com" ! with mission accomplished you can move to bigger and better sites that dont mind that your boring. try twitter ! no need to waste more of your time here. thanx !
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Permalink Reply by Darren on -
With a little practice, you could write for ‘The Onion’
That might get you laid.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31265
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Permalink Reply by kirby vonshouse on
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( sigh ) fair enough janet, what would it take for you to ignore this whole site ? and to you rest of you, and myself, if we ignore this parasite (methhead?) he will find another site to feed on. get my drift? yes jan , you can have the last word.
i never argue with an idiot, they drag you to their level ,and beat you up with experience. thomas jefferson
Jan Krüger said:kirby vonshouse said:
Thank you for taking the time to share this. Unfortunately, I did not understand your post at all, and since everything I don't understand is automatically irrelevant and/or wrong, I'm going to ignore everything you said.hi jan, i feel the need to give the attention you crave. if i buy you a new Wii will you go away ? and now enlighted i will shut this site down and all the morons who belong. try "blatheringidiots.com" ! with mission accomplished you can move to bigger and better sites that dont mind that your boring. try twitter ! no need to waste more of your time here. thanx !
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