Post by Daniel on Sept 26, 2015 22:51:35 GMT
Mariam: ok
Mariam: so Fycho's lesson was sort of an overview to hypnosis in general
Mariam: I'm going to go into a lot more detail, but that means I'm not going to be able to cover as much
Mariam: so I'm not going to get into deepening, or anchoring, or triggers, or anything like that
chloroform_sleep: ok
Mariam: I'm only focusing on induction, but there's a lot about induction to cover, so this is going to be long
Mariam: if you have any questions, feel free to ask them at any time
chloroform_sleep: alrighty then
Mariam: first thing to know about inductions is that you don't need to do them
Mariam: to hypnotize someone, you need to do two things: get acquiescence, and bypass the critical factor
Mariam: "acquiescence" just means that they're willing to follow your instructions
Mariam: so if you say to your friend, "hey, wanna see something cool?" and they say "yes", you have acquiescence.
chloroform_sleep: ok, makes sense
Mariam: just because you have acquiescence doesn't mean that you'll keep it, because people will break acquiescence when you're taking them somewhere they're not comfortable.
Mariam: and people can reject your instructions without breaking acquiescence.
Mariam: like with your friend, you say "wanna see something cool?" and they say "yes". Then you say "ok, get naked"
Mariam: at this point they're probably not going to want to get naked, but the still want to see something cool, so you haven't lost acquiescence, even though they're not following your instructions
Mariam: but if you keep insisting that they need to get naked, you're going to lose acquiescence because they decide that seeing something cool isn't worth that much to them
Mariam: you can test if you have acquiescence by doing something that requires your subject to participate. the more rapidly they respond, the more likely it is that you have acquiescence.
chloroform_sleep: ok
Mariam: or a slow response might mean you're doing a text session and they're on their phone
Mariam: you can lose acquiescence even when somebody is in trance. you'll notice that they're less and less interested in following your instructions, and if you push them too far, they'll come out of trance
Mariam: one thing you might notice with difficult subjects like me is that we want to feel like we're in control, even when we give you acquiescence
Mariam: so like if someone tells me "you will do this", my first reaction is "no I won't"
Mariam: for subjects like me, it's better to use permissive words, like "may" or "allow"
Mariam: so you might say "you may start to do this" or "allow yourself to do this"
Mariam: most subjects don't like that though. most subjects respond better to direct instructions, like "you will do this"
Mariam: if you're in person, you can test for what kind of suggestions work better.
Mariam: you can tell them that their left arm *will* rise like it has a balloon tied to it, and it will feel lighter and lighter
Mariam: and that they *may* feel like their right arm has a weight tied to it, and they can *allow* to feel heavier and heavier.
Mariam: and then you can tell what kind of suggestions work better for that person.
Mariam: but in text it's usually best to use direct suggestions unless you know somebody is a difficult subject
Mariam: once you get someone into a deep trance, direct suggestions are always better, even if they're a difficult subject
Mariam: the great thing about hypnotizing someone here, or in sleepychat, or the hypnosis interest on omegle is that you're usually starting with acquiescence
Mariam: if you meet someone in other interests on omegle, or in other communities, or in real life, you're not starting with acquiescence, and it's going to be harder to get it.
Mariam: am I going too fast?
chloroform_sleep: no no I'm following
chloroform_sleep: not sure if anyone else is
chloroform_sleep: all making great sense
Mariam:
Uncover(Mk): No
Mariam: the second thing you need to do to hypnotize someone is to bypass the critical factor
Mariam: again, this is easy, and you've already done it many times in your life
chloroform_sleep: which is?
Mariam: the critical factor is the part of their mind that tells them that something isn't real or isn't possible.
Mariam: so that can stop hypnosis from working, obviously
chloroform_sleep: sure
Mariam: that's actually the main reason that you can't just give any of your friends suggestions all the time
chloroform_sleep: and to bypass it?
Mariam: bypassing it is actually pretty easy
Mariam: any time someone imagines something vividly, they bypass the critical factor
Mariam: and that's why our rules say that you have to get consent, even for roleplaying
Mariam: because for some people, they're so used to going into trance that they've become like super-subjects
Mariam: and for those people, if they roleplay putting a hat on, and then you tell them that it's a mind-control hat, they're already in trance
Mariam: that's why it's so important to get consent, even if you're just roleplaying hypnosis
Mariam: but for some people, like me, it's very difficult to bypass the critical factor
chloroform_sleep: ok makes good sense
chloroform_sleep: yeah you surely have to want to go under for it to work
chloroform_sleep: ?
Mariam: even that isn't enough sometimes
Mariam: because I have lots of resistance that I can't easily label
Duncan: ok, i was hypnotised the other day and certainly went into trance but i dont think that i had actually gone past the critical factor
Duncan: like a week ago maybe more
Mariam: suggestions weren't working for you?
Duncan: they did to an extent but just felt really weird
Mariam nods.
Duncan: like tickling my feet was one
Mariam: I think that's about where I go
Duncan: but it didnt feel like that and just was weird
Mariam: I go into trance easily enough, but the suggestions don't do much for me
Mariam: and part of that, in my case at least
Mariam: is that I was trained in vipassana meditation
Mariam: which is all about awareness of bodily sensations
Mariam: so when I feel myself going into trance, I'm very aware of everything in my body that's changing
Mariam: and that makes hypnosis not work
Mariam: so if you're doing that sort of thing, cut it out
Duncan: lol
chloroform_sleep: is that a good thing from your point of view?
damdam: mmm
Duncan: i dont do that but im always aware of whats happening with my body XD
Mariam: it's a good thing if you don't want to go under
chloroform_sleep: or you wish you never did that meditation?
Mariam: I usually don't mind
chloroform_sleep:
Mariam: actually, it can be really cool at times, because it makes lucid dreaming easier
Duncan: like when i stared to go into trance i was actually incredibly aware of my heartbeat
Mariam: because you're completely aware as your mind is going to sleep
Duncan: that would be cool
Mariam nods.
chloroform_sleep: cool
Mariam: yeah, so that might be part of the reason you're having trouble, Duncan
Mariam: but there are lots of things that can make hypnosis difficult
Mariam: anyway, the usual shortcut is that whenever someone imagines something vividly, that bypasses the critical factor
Mariam: so you'll see instructions to imagine things in a lot of inductions
Mariam: and a good story is often enough to get someone to bypass the critical factor
Mariam: actually, lots of hypnotists use that as an example
Mariam: a subject will come to them and say "I've never been hypnotized"
Mariam: and the tist says "have you ever been so focused on a movie that you forgot everything else?"
Mariam: somebody should do a lesson on hypnotic storytelling, because there's a lot you can do there
chloroform_sleep: yeah I've heard that
Duncan: jay might be good with that since he does that for doll
Mariam:
Mariam: and a state break can bypass the critical factor
Mariam: a state break is when you give someone a response that they're not accustomed to
Mariam: like with a handshake
Mariam: when you hold your hand out, and someone else reaches for it to shake it, they expect you to shake their hand
Mariam: but if you take their wrist instead, and guide their head to your shoulder, and tell them to sleep
Mariam: that is a state break, and there's a handshake induction that works like that
Mariam: because it bypasses the critical factor so well
chloroform_sleep: I've seen that lots on youtube
chloroform_sleep: would love to master that one
Mariam: another good example of a state break is the batman induction
Mariam: if you haven't seen that one, it uses the batman theme song, from the 1960s cartoon
Mariam: nana nana nana nana batman!
chloroform_sleep: haha really?
Duncan: lol
Mariam: yup
Mariam: because people have that pattern in their mind of how the song goes
Mariam: and then you say "sing that song, but stop before the last 'na'"
Mariam: and then you keep taking 'na's off, until there's nothing left in the song
Mariam: they've got that whole pattern set up in their head, and you're breaking it
Mariam: puts people into trance well
Duncan: id fail at that XD
chloroform_sleep: ha i will have to see if there are any youtube vids of that
Mariam: just saying "stop" can be a state break, because it stops a person's thought process for a moment
Mariam: so if you give someone the trigger "hammertime", saying "stop! hammertime!" might put them under very well
sleepy:
Mariam: and please don't ever do that
Mariam: because that song might come on the radio while they're driving, and they'll crash and kill people.
sleepy: Oh
chloroform_sleep: oh
chloroform_sleep: yeah
chloroform_sleep: :S
Mariam: but almost anything works as a state break if they're not used to it.
Mariam: like if you pause for longer than usual when they're expecting a response, even that can work as a state break
Mariam: but you need to be careful with state breaks
Mariam: because you're kinda shaking up what somebody believes about the way the world works
Mariam: and it can be very unsettling to them
chloroform_sleep: yeah i get that
Mariam: strong emotions can also bypass the critical factor.
Mariam: like when someone is very frightened, they're basically already in a state of trance
Mariam: like have you ever watched a scary movie, and then walked through a dark room, and you can just feel things looking at you in the darkness?
chloroform_sleep: ha yes
Mariam: basically the movie put you into a state of trance by telling a story and evoking strong emotions, and then it suggested the feeling of not being safe
Mariam: and your mind interprets that by having you imagine dangers that aren't there
Mariam: and if you get really scared, you'll even start to see things that aren't there
chloroform_sleep: luckily i don't get like that but i get it
Mariam: so when you have incidents of mass hysteria, that might be what's happening
Mariam: here in the States, we had a bunch of sightings of a monster all over New Jersey for a week back in 1909
Mariam: which might be just fear and a suggestion
Devin: Salem witch trials
Mariam: or the War of the Worlds broadcast is another good example
Mariam: if you all know about that one
chloroform_sleep: i don't actually
chloroform_sleep: i know the film
sleepy: There is not really a relation
Duncan: it was where war of the worlds the book was broadcast on radie
Duncan: radio
Mariam: it was Orson Welles
sleepy: Wait, was the book made into a movie?
Mariam: the way he adapted the story to radio is he had music playing
Duncan: but a lot of people missed the introduction to it saying its just a novel
Mariam: and then he interrupted the music with a "live broadcast"
chloroform_sleep: ah ok
Mariam: about aliens landing
chloroform_sleep: so everyone got scared?
Mariam: and people really freaked out
Mariam: yeah, like everyone bought it
chloroform_sleep: ha crazy
Mariam: so he had a story, triggered strong emotions, and gave a suggestion
Mariam: and there were people who swore they had actually seen the aliens
Mariam: we associate relaxation with trance, but fear is trance, anger is trance, lust is trance
Mariam: any strong emotion is trance
Mariam: but not all strong emotions are good to use to hypnotize someone
Mariam: if you use an induction that makes someone angry or afraid, you're losing acquiescence
Mariam: using emotions like that might be doing damage to your subject
Mariam: so that's not a good idea
Sanne: how would it damage a subject? would they be less likely to follow.. or?
sleepy: Don't you need a significant level of relaxation to get the subject to be suggestible, though? Can that level of relaxation be reached with that many strong emotions?
Mariam: you can definitely hypnotize someone without relaxation
Mariam: but in general, I try to avoid strong negative emotions
Mariam: I don't know how many of you were here for this
Mariam: but a while ago, Amy was having a panic attack
Sanne: ooh.. rightt, thats no good
Mariam: and a tist tried to calm her down
Mariam: and he asked what she was upset about
Mariam: and that alone was enough to trigger the emotion again
Mariam: and actually regress her back to the event that had caused the panic attack to begin with
Mariam: so she was living it again
sleepy: Yikes
Mariam: fortunately we had a professional hypnotherapist in the chat at the time
Mariam: so he was able to help
Mariam: but yeah, avoid strong emotions
Mariam: though a lust-based induction can be a very good idea with the right person
Mariam: so really, you don't need an induction. just get acquiescence and bypass the critical factor
Mariam: a story can do that, or roleplaying, or just conversation
Mariam: watch Derren Brown on youtube and you'll see him doing this stuff a lot
Mariam: he only really does inductions with difficult subjects, because most of the time he doesn't need to
Mariam: now the advantage of an induction is that it's usually the easiest way
Mariam: when you know what you're doing, you can do that Derren Brown stuff
Mariam: but for beginners, it's usually best to stick with inductions
Mariam: so here we are half an hour after the lesson started
Mariam: and I'm ready to talk about inductions now
Naomi: Oh god
Mariam: haha
Mariam: when you're just getting started as a tist, the easiest thing to do is to copy someone else's induction
Mariam: that's how I started, actually
Mariam: but I don't recommend that
Mariam: because when you find someone that induction doesn't work for, you won't know how to adapt
Mariam: like say you have this lovely induction about walking along a peaceful beach
Mariam: and then your subject tells you that her mother drowned in the ocean in front of her when she was three
Mariam: obviously that beach induction isn't going to give her feelings of safety and relaxation
Mariam: and you might use it as a fear induction and get her under, but like I said, you generally don't want to work with emotions like fear
Mariam: so what I suggest for when you're first learning is that you write inductions every day
Mariam: and that you never use an induction that you've written
Mariam: writing the inductions is to give you an idea of how they're structured
Mariam: so that when you're in a session with a subject, you can just make one up, and it will work
Mariam: when you get that subject who saw her mother drown, you can immediately change your beach into a forest, or have her imagine puppies, or light, or energy, or anything
Mariam: and it won't mess you up that the only induction you know won't work
Mariam: so instead of giving you an induction, I'd rather show you how to write an induction
Mariam: when you're writing an induction, remember what I said about acquiescence and bypassing the critical factor
Mariam: you know those guys on omegle who send their first message that's like a 2000 word paragraph, and they want you to read all of it and tell them when you've gone under?
Mariam: they're not testing for acquiescence
Mariam: sometimes they get acquiescence and they'll actually get someone who went under and stayed under
Mariam: but most of the time it would be more effective if they tested for acquiescence a few times
Mariam: so that they know when the sub is losing interest
Mariam: and they can adjust
Mariam: and that's one of the big secrets of a good induction: it should be interactive
Mariam: ask your sub to respond several times during the induction
Mariam: a yes or no response is good, when they're getting pretty deep, because it will be hard for them to think of more complicated answers
Mariam: but early in the induction, it might be better if you have more complicated questions
Mariam: like an induction I use sometimes is I tell people that we feel emotions in the body
Mariam: so in English we have certain phrases, like "a pain in the neck" means annoyance, and "butterflies in the stomach" means nervousness
Mariam: when we feel an emotion, we feel it somewhere in the body
Mariam: so I'll ask someone to imagine friendship, and tell me where they can feel it in their body, and I'll ask a few questions about how it looks
Mariam: "what color is friendship?"
Mariam: "where is it in your body?"
Mariam: "how does it move through your body? is it like water, or like heat, or like electricity, or like something else entirely?"
Mariam: this serves two purposes
Mariam: 1. it's getting the sub to imagine friendship, which means that it's getting them to feel it, which is making them feel more trust and acquiescence, because your friends always have your trust and acquiescence
Mariam: 2. it's getting the sub to participate, which is a test of acquiescence. remember, the faster they respond, the more likely it is that I have acquiescence
Mariam: so early in the induction I'll ask these abstract questions that they need to think about
Mariam: but later in the induction, I'll drop into simpler questions that they can answer without thinking very much
Mariam: because the deeper they go, the harder it will be for them to think
Mariam: and another advantage to asking questions during inductions is that it will help you test for roleplayers
Mariam: there's no absolute test for roleplayers -- some of them will always be able to fool you
Mariam: but if you ask lots of questions during your induction, you'll get an idea of how someone who's really in trance will respond
Mariam: like if you get deep into the induction, and you know that at this point people usually just answer "yes" or "y", and somebody is typing out "I will do anything you say, my mistress!" they're probably roleplaying
Mariam: though sometimes you get odd responses, so you can't always be sure
Mariam: you may want to do a few tests before you confront them about it
Mariam: anyway, that's how you put acquiescence in your induction
YinYang: The depends on how they percieve trance, right? o.o
Mariam: yeah, all subs are different, so you won't get two subs that react exactly the same to everything
Mariam: and sometimes one of them will be really weird
Mariam: but that doesn't mean for sure that they're roleplaying
Mariam: I've had a number of subs that I was convinced were roleplaying, and then I found out later that they weren't
Mariam: but when you're writing your induction, you need to keep the critical factor in mind too
Mariam: remember that your induction needs to bypass the critical factor in some way
Mariam: there are lots of ways to bypass the critical factor, but one of the easiest is getting the sub to imagine something vividly
Mariam: there are other ways to bypass the critical factor, and when you get more experienced you should experiment with them
Mariam: because some of them work much better for certain subs
Mariam: but when you're just starting out, imagination is a really good place to start
Mariam: and you might want to tailor that emotion to the sense your sub favors
Mariam: for most people, they find it very easy to "see" things
Mariam: but every once in a while, you'll get a sub who finds it easier to "hear" things
Mariam: so you might suggest that they hear soft music, or waves crashing on the shore or something
Mariam: some subs prefer to "touch" things
Mariam: so you might have them imagine they're getting a massage
Mariam: or taking a hot bath
Mariam: and the last thing you need to keep in mind when you're writing an induction is the words you use
Mariam: certain words work very well in hypnosis
Mariam: and I can tell you maybe 100 of these words
Mariam: but this lesson is already long enough, so I want to focus on a few of the most important ones
Mariam: the absolute most important word is someone's name
Mariam: because most people think that they're the most important person in the universe
Mariam: ego
Mariam: and their name is the word that everybody has used to refer to the most important person in the universe for as long as they can remember
Mariam: so people tend to have a very strong reaction to their name
Mariam: and if you don't know their name, the word "you" can work very well too
Mariam: and you'll see that in advertising
Mariam: lots of advertisements will use the word "you"
Mariam: "imagine yourself in a new Subaru"
Mariam: by extension, because people tend to see themselves as so important, the words "please" and "thank you" can often be very powerful
Mariam: because you're treating them like they're very important
Mariam: they're especially good when you're talking to the sub's unconscious mind
Mariam: because the unconscious mind tends to be particularly childish, so it likes to think of itself as very important
Mariam: "because" is also very important
Mariam: they did a study where they'd have someone in a busy office building
Mariam: where there's a line to use the copier
Mariam: and someone would try to cut in line, saying "excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the machine?"
Mariam: and 60% of the time, the person would let them cut in line
Mariam: but when the new person said "may I use the machine because I need to make copies?"
Mariam: 93% of the time, they let the person cut in front of them
Mariam: because the word "because" sounds like it's giving a reason, even when it's not
Mariam: the person says "because I need to make copies"
Mariam: well, obviously they need to make copies
Mariam: everybody in line needs to make copies
Mariam: that's the only thing the machine is good for
Mariam: but the word "because" makes it sound important
Mariam: and pretty much any word you use in logic or in computer programming is very powerful in hypnosis
Mariam: words like "and", "or", "if", "then", "when", "while", "as"
Mariam: "and" and "or" are especially useful
Mariam: when you use the word "and" to connect things, it makes both of those things more important
Mariam: like if I say "you may find yourself getting sleepy and your thoughts slowing down"
Mariam: if one of those things is true, the other one becomes true, because it's tied to something that the sub already knows is true
Mariam: and if neither one is true, the sub will start to make them true, because they're both linked to something that could be true, which makes them more likely to be true
Mariam: that works when you're connecting something to itself too
Mariam: "more and more" and "deeper and deeper" are more powerful than "more" and "deeper"
Mariam: you'll see lots of tists doing that
Mariam: the word "or" gives the sub a choice -- or at least it makes them feel like they have a choice
Mariam: "you may start to wonder what that relaxation will feel like. will it feel good as your body begins to slow down, or will your body slowing down allow it to feel good?"
Mariam: it sounds like I'm giving the sub a choice, but both outcomes are exactly the same
Mariam: "you can fall into trance as quickly or as slowly as you want to now"
Mariam: this is called a double-bind, and it's so useful that you can even take it outside of hypnosis entirely
Mariam: I had a guy use this on me once when he was trying to sell me a painting
Mariam: he showed me two paintings, and he said "would you rather buy this one or this one?"
Mariam: he's giving me a choice of one painting over the other -- but both choices mean I'm buying a painting
Mariam: so by giving me an unimportant choice, he's taking my important choice away
sleepy: Did it work?
Mariam: haha, yes. I think I bought three of them
sleepy:
Mariam: the worst of it is, I knew what he was doing when he did it
Mariam: and I still bought the paintings
YinYang: Hey, maybe you liked the paintings xD
Mariam:
Mariam: another word that's very good for taking away a subject's choice is "try"
Mariam: the word "try" suggests that the subject is going to fail
Mariam: a lot of the time you'll see tists saying things like "your hands are powerful magnets, and no matter how hard you try to keep them apart, they stick together"
Mariam: the word "try" makes the suggestion even more powerful, because it's telling them that they'll fail at pulling their hands apart
Mariam: words that are connected to time are very powerful too
Mariam: words like "now", "begin", "start", and "yet"
Mariam: "now" obviously tells the sub that something is happening immediately
Mariam: but the other words are very powerful as well because they suggest that even though something isn't happening right now, it will be very soon
Mariam: "yet" is very powerful for difficult subjects like me
Mariam: because if you tell them "you're starting to feel very relaxed" they'll say "no I'm not"
Mariam: but if you say "you may not feel very relaxed yet"
Mariam: you're suggesting that they're not very relaxed -- which they can agree with -- and you're implying that they will be relaxed soon
Mariam: and they can't disagree with that, because you never actually said it
Mariam: words that suggest imagination are also very powerful
Mariam: because to imagine something, a person has to experience it
Mariam: which is why you might cry during a sad movie, or get excited during an action movie
Mariam: I did an improv class once, and we played a game where I had just arrived, and everyone else had to suggest to me how I got there
Mariam: so I left the room, and they decided that I arrived by flying carpet. so when I came back into the room, they kept trying to get me to guess that I had arrived that way
Mariam: and they kept talking about the carpet on the floor
Mariam: and I still remember that carpet -- it was a large oriental carpet in a deep red color, with an intricate design
Mariam: and a few weeks later I went back to that classroom, and I was surprised to see that there was no carpet on the floor -- there never had been
Mariam: but whenever I think about that class, I remember the carpet. I remember it better than the other students who were actually there with me
Naomi: Oh wow...
Mariam: so what I'm saying is that words like "imagine", "pretend", "remember", "recall", "what's it like when", or "have you ever" are very powerful because they're giving someone a very real experience
Mariam: I've heard about a study they did where people were learning basketball
Mariam: and they had three groups of people. one group would go home and not do anything, the second group would go home and play basketball, and the third group would go home and imagine playing basketball
Mariam: and they found that the group who didn't do anything didn't improve at all, and the group that actually played basketball improved the most, but the group that just imagined playing basketball improved quite a bit too
Mariam: many parts of your mind don't actually know the difference between something you've imagined vividly, and something that actually happened
Mariam: there are lots of other powerful words, but I don't want to overwhelm you
Mariam: so, your homework for this lesson is to write your own inductions
Mariam: I'm going to post the text of the lesson on the forum, and you can use that thread to post all the inductions you've written, and to comment on other people's inductions, give them pointers, and ask them why certain things work
Mariam: let's keep this lesson going after I stop teaching it
Mariam: any questions?
Kyra: No...
Naomi: You might need to separate the posts into different subjects like inductions: part 1 etc XD
Mariam: haha
Naomi: And no, I have non atm :3
Mariam: yeah, maybe
sleepy: I don't think I have enough time to write a new induction every day
Naomi: I could try to write one though
YinYang: Lol I got a comment. On omegle some girl talked about Derren Brown, and I was like "Hmmm, fine, talk about some other guy!" But I looked him up, and it taught me a lot
YinYang: Pretty cool stuff... scary cool xD
Mariam: Derren Brown is awesome
Mariam: I didn't want to post links during the lesson, because everyone would be watching him instead of me
sleepy: Is all the stuff he does real?
Mariam: no, not all of it
sleepy: I looked him up and watched a bit :{
Mariam: he is a stage magician as well
Mariam: so like there's a trick he does where he has a girl blindfolded, and he says don't say anything until I ask
Mariam: and then he taps on her shoulder
Mariam: and nobody notices that
Mariam: but then he taps his shadow's fingers on her shadow's shoulder
Mariam: and he asks what did you feel?
Mariam: and she says "you tapped on my shoulder"
YinYang: Haha, very tricky
Naomi: Omfg...
Mariam: so yeah... he does stuff like that
Mariam: it's a magic trick, not hypnosis
Mariam: but a lot of his hypnosis stuff is real
sleepy: There's one where he has a blindfolded girl drink what he claims is vinegar.
Mariam nods.
sleepy: But I'm pretty sure the bottle of vinegar had a fake top. So he has someone else test the vinegar, which was actually in the top
sleepy: But the bottom was just dark water
sleepy: You can't actually just drink vinegar ever, right?
Mariam: you can
Alexander: if you believe something is truely real your mind and body will believe it is
Naomi: PLACEBO EFFECT EVERYBODY
Mariam: Roman soldiers used to drink something called posca, I think
sleepy: It was like 8 oz
Mariam: poscha?
Cliff: I've seen subjects doing the 'eat an onion like it's an apple' suggestion, without noticing
sleepy: But it's pretty darn acidic
Mariam: which was basically wine that had turned to vinegar
sleepy: Right
sleepy: But an onion is pretty easy
Cliff: so I think the vinegar thing wouldn't be too dissimilar
sleepy: I could eat an onion
sleepy: Vinegar is acidic
sleepy: Real acidic
Cliff: you could?
Mariam: yeah, vinegar is acidic, but I think it was probably real
Cliff: like, a whole bite, raw?
Mariam: and yeah, I know people who eat whole raw onions without being hypnotized
sleepy: Really?
Mariam: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOEKdaXIEHc
Mariam: that's one of the links I wanted to post of his
Mariam: as how you don't need to do inductions
Duncan: seriously
Duncan: blocked for me cos im UK XD
Mariam: he's doing covert hypnosis
Naomi: ^^
Naomi: Covert Hypnosis ? o.O
Naomi:
?
Mariam: in a shopping mall
Naomi: What's Covert hypnosis? >.< Are we going to get onto that subject? =o
Mariam: I would love to have a lesson on covert hypnosis. unfortunately, I'm not very good at it
YinYang: I'm trying to learn it atm, I have some tabs open xD
Naomi: I'll just google it x'D
Naomi: Covert Hypnosis seems fun x'D
Doll: whats a covert?
Cliff: ok, found a mirror that's not blocked in the UK
Alexander: its when someone hypnotizes a subject without the sub knowing doll
Mariam: so basically what Derren Brown is doing in that video is he repeats this message for half an hour:
Mariam: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Palisades mall. We hope that your shopping experience is an UPLIFTING ARM, and I'd like to bring to your PAY ATTENTION some very special offers. Details of our special offers can be found HANDILY by the elevators, so why not come RIGHT ARM UP and see for yourselves. Our special offers will only be available for a short period of time, so all those customers wishing to REACH UP and grab this opportunity should do so NOW.
Mariam: he only does the NOW bit at the end
sleepy: Right
Mariam: but it all sounds very natural when you're not paying attention to it
Naomi: Ooooh
Mariam: but it's all full of suggestions
Naomi: Alright
sleepy: Some people must have just gotten there though
sleepy: I think they were the ones who paused a bit
Naomi: I kinda get it
Mariam: and when he says "now", everyone raises their hands
Naomi: Is it spoken normally or kind of emphasised?
YinYang: lol, uplifting arm, that doesn't even make sense
Mariam: it is kinda emphasized
Mariam: it sounds like he's saying "an uplifting one"
YinYang: But the subconcious mind gets the message even without it
Naomi: Okay.
Mariam: if you're not paying attention to it
YinYang: PAYING ATTENTION
Mariam:
Naomi: Oooh yeah I see
YinYang: the come right arm up is the best part imo
Naomi: Because if you're hearing noise in the background
Naomi: As well as his emphasised voice
Naomi: Your mind will numb out the suggestions
Naomi: By the noise
Naomi: And only attempt to listen
Mariam nods.
Mariam: so Fycho's lesson was sort of an overview to hypnosis in general
Mariam: I'm going to go into a lot more detail, but that means I'm not going to be able to cover as much
Mariam: so I'm not going to get into deepening, or anchoring, or triggers, or anything like that
chloroform_sleep: ok
Mariam: I'm only focusing on induction, but there's a lot about induction to cover, so this is going to be long
Mariam: if you have any questions, feel free to ask them at any time
chloroform_sleep: alrighty then
Mariam: first thing to know about inductions is that you don't need to do them
Mariam: to hypnotize someone, you need to do two things: get acquiescence, and bypass the critical factor
Mariam: "acquiescence" just means that they're willing to follow your instructions
Mariam: so if you say to your friend, "hey, wanna see something cool?" and they say "yes", you have acquiescence.
chloroform_sleep: ok, makes sense
Mariam: just because you have acquiescence doesn't mean that you'll keep it, because people will break acquiescence when you're taking them somewhere they're not comfortable.
Mariam: and people can reject your instructions without breaking acquiescence.
Mariam: like with your friend, you say "wanna see something cool?" and they say "yes". Then you say "ok, get naked"
Mariam: at this point they're probably not going to want to get naked, but the still want to see something cool, so you haven't lost acquiescence, even though they're not following your instructions
Mariam: but if you keep insisting that they need to get naked, you're going to lose acquiescence because they decide that seeing something cool isn't worth that much to them
Mariam: you can test if you have acquiescence by doing something that requires your subject to participate. the more rapidly they respond, the more likely it is that you have acquiescence.
chloroform_sleep: ok
Mariam: or a slow response might mean you're doing a text session and they're on their phone
Mariam: you can lose acquiescence even when somebody is in trance. you'll notice that they're less and less interested in following your instructions, and if you push them too far, they'll come out of trance
Mariam: one thing you might notice with difficult subjects like me is that we want to feel like we're in control, even when we give you acquiescence
Mariam: so like if someone tells me "you will do this", my first reaction is "no I won't"
Mariam: for subjects like me, it's better to use permissive words, like "may" or "allow"
Mariam: so you might say "you may start to do this" or "allow yourself to do this"
Mariam: most subjects don't like that though. most subjects respond better to direct instructions, like "you will do this"
Mariam: if you're in person, you can test for what kind of suggestions work better.
Mariam: you can tell them that their left arm *will* rise like it has a balloon tied to it, and it will feel lighter and lighter
Mariam: and that they *may* feel like their right arm has a weight tied to it, and they can *allow* to feel heavier and heavier.
Mariam: and then you can tell what kind of suggestions work better for that person.
Mariam: but in text it's usually best to use direct suggestions unless you know somebody is a difficult subject
Mariam: once you get someone into a deep trance, direct suggestions are always better, even if they're a difficult subject
Mariam: the great thing about hypnotizing someone here, or in sleepychat, or the hypnosis interest on omegle is that you're usually starting with acquiescence
Mariam: if you meet someone in other interests on omegle, or in other communities, or in real life, you're not starting with acquiescence, and it's going to be harder to get it.
Mariam: am I going too fast?
chloroform_sleep: no no I'm following
chloroform_sleep: not sure if anyone else is
chloroform_sleep: all making great sense
Mariam:
Uncover(Mk): No
Mariam: the second thing you need to do to hypnotize someone is to bypass the critical factor
Mariam: again, this is easy, and you've already done it many times in your life
chloroform_sleep: which is?
Mariam: the critical factor is the part of their mind that tells them that something isn't real or isn't possible.
Mariam: so that can stop hypnosis from working, obviously
chloroform_sleep: sure
Mariam: that's actually the main reason that you can't just give any of your friends suggestions all the time
chloroform_sleep: and to bypass it?
Mariam: bypassing it is actually pretty easy
Mariam: any time someone imagines something vividly, they bypass the critical factor
Mariam: and that's why our rules say that you have to get consent, even for roleplaying
Mariam: because for some people, they're so used to going into trance that they've become like super-subjects
Mariam: and for those people, if they roleplay putting a hat on, and then you tell them that it's a mind-control hat, they're already in trance
Mariam: that's why it's so important to get consent, even if you're just roleplaying hypnosis
Mariam: but for some people, like me, it's very difficult to bypass the critical factor
chloroform_sleep: ok makes good sense
chloroform_sleep: yeah you surely have to want to go under for it to work
chloroform_sleep: ?
Mariam: even that isn't enough sometimes
Mariam: because I have lots of resistance that I can't easily label
Duncan: ok, i was hypnotised the other day and certainly went into trance but i dont think that i had actually gone past the critical factor
Duncan: like a week ago maybe more
Mariam: suggestions weren't working for you?
Duncan: they did to an extent but just felt really weird
Mariam nods.
Duncan: like tickling my feet was one
Mariam: I think that's about where I go
Duncan: but it didnt feel like that and just was weird
Mariam: I go into trance easily enough, but the suggestions don't do much for me
Mariam: and part of that, in my case at least
Mariam: is that I was trained in vipassana meditation
Mariam: which is all about awareness of bodily sensations
Mariam: so when I feel myself going into trance, I'm very aware of everything in my body that's changing
Mariam: and that makes hypnosis not work
Mariam: so if you're doing that sort of thing, cut it out
Duncan: lol
chloroform_sleep: is that a good thing from your point of view?
damdam: mmm
Duncan: i dont do that but im always aware of whats happening with my body XD
Mariam: it's a good thing if you don't want to go under
chloroform_sleep: or you wish you never did that meditation?
Mariam: I usually don't mind
chloroform_sleep:
Mariam: actually, it can be really cool at times, because it makes lucid dreaming easier
Duncan: like when i stared to go into trance i was actually incredibly aware of my heartbeat
Mariam: because you're completely aware as your mind is going to sleep
Duncan: that would be cool
Mariam nods.
chloroform_sleep: cool
Mariam: yeah, so that might be part of the reason you're having trouble, Duncan
Mariam: but there are lots of things that can make hypnosis difficult
Mariam: anyway, the usual shortcut is that whenever someone imagines something vividly, that bypasses the critical factor
Mariam: so you'll see instructions to imagine things in a lot of inductions
Mariam: and a good story is often enough to get someone to bypass the critical factor
Mariam: actually, lots of hypnotists use that as an example
Mariam: a subject will come to them and say "I've never been hypnotized"
Mariam: and the tist says "have you ever been so focused on a movie that you forgot everything else?"
Mariam: somebody should do a lesson on hypnotic storytelling, because there's a lot you can do there
chloroform_sleep: yeah I've heard that
Duncan: jay might be good with that since he does that for doll
Mariam:
Mariam: and a state break can bypass the critical factor
Mariam: a state break is when you give someone a response that they're not accustomed to
Mariam: like with a handshake
Mariam: when you hold your hand out, and someone else reaches for it to shake it, they expect you to shake their hand
Mariam: but if you take their wrist instead, and guide their head to your shoulder, and tell them to sleep
Mariam: that is a state break, and there's a handshake induction that works like that
Mariam: because it bypasses the critical factor so well
chloroform_sleep: I've seen that lots on youtube
chloroform_sleep: would love to master that one
Mariam: another good example of a state break is the batman induction
Mariam: if you haven't seen that one, it uses the batman theme song, from the 1960s cartoon
Mariam: nana nana nana nana batman!
chloroform_sleep: haha really?
Duncan: lol
Mariam: yup
Mariam: because people have that pattern in their mind of how the song goes
Mariam: and then you say "sing that song, but stop before the last 'na'"
Mariam: and then you keep taking 'na's off, until there's nothing left in the song
Mariam: they've got that whole pattern set up in their head, and you're breaking it
Mariam: puts people into trance well
Duncan: id fail at that XD
chloroform_sleep: ha i will have to see if there are any youtube vids of that
Mariam: just saying "stop" can be a state break, because it stops a person's thought process for a moment
Mariam: so if you give someone the trigger "hammertime", saying "stop! hammertime!" might put them under very well
sleepy:
Mariam: and please don't ever do that
Mariam: because that song might come on the radio while they're driving, and they'll crash and kill people.
sleepy: Oh
chloroform_sleep: oh
chloroform_sleep: yeah
chloroform_sleep: :S
Mariam: but almost anything works as a state break if they're not used to it.
Mariam: like if you pause for longer than usual when they're expecting a response, even that can work as a state break
Mariam: but you need to be careful with state breaks
Mariam: because you're kinda shaking up what somebody believes about the way the world works
Mariam: and it can be very unsettling to them
chloroform_sleep: yeah i get that
Mariam: strong emotions can also bypass the critical factor.
Mariam: like when someone is very frightened, they're basically already in a state of trance
Mariam: like have you ever watched a scary movie, and then walked through a dark room, and you can just feel things looking at you in the darkness?
chloroform_sleep: ha yes
Mariam: basically the movie put you into a state of trance by telling a story and evoking strong emotions, and then it suggested the feeling of not being safe
Mariam: and your mind interprets that by having you imagine dangers that aren't there
Mariam: and if you get really scared, you'll even start to see things that aren't there
chloroform_sleep: luckily i don't get like that but i get it
Mariam: so when you have incidents of mass hysteria, that might be what's happening
Mariam: here in the States, we had a bunch of sightings of a monster all over New Jersey for a week back in 1909
Mariam: which might be just fear and a suggestion
Devin: Salem witch trials
Mariam: or the War of the Worlds broadcast is another good example
Mariam: if you all know about that one
chloroform_sleep: i don't actually
chloroform_sleep: i know the film
sleepy: There is not really a relation
Duncan: it was where war of the worlds the book was broadcast on radie
Duncan: radio
Mariam: it was Orson Welles
sleepy: Wait, was the book made into a movie?
Mariam: the way he adapted the story to radio is he had music playing
Duncan: but a lot of people missed the introduction to it saying its just a novel
Mariam: and then he interrupted the music with a "live broadcast"
chloroform_sleep: ah ok
Mariam: about aliens landing
chloroform_sleep: so everyone got scared?
Mariam: and people really freaked out
Mariam: yeah, like everyone bought it
chloroform_sleep: ha crazy
Mariam: so he had a story, triggered strong emotions, and gave a suggestion
Mariam: and there were people who swore they had actually seen the aliens
Mariam: we associate relaxation with trance, but fear is trance, anger is trance, lust is trance
Mariam: any strong emotion is trance
Mariam: but not all strong emotions are good to use to hypnotize someone
Mariam: if you use an induction that makes someone angry or afraid, you're losing acquiescence
Mariam: using emotions like that might be doing damage to your subject
Mariam: so that's not a good idea
Sanne: how would it damage a subject? would they be less likely to follow.. or?
sleepy: Don't you need a significant level of relaxation to get the subject to be suggestible, though? Can that level of relaxation be reached with that many strong emotions?
Mariam: you can definitely hypnotize someone without relaxation
Mariam: but in general, I try to avoid strong negative emotions
Mariam: I don't know how many of you were here for this
Mariam: but a while ago, Amy was having a panic attack
Sanne: ooh.. rightt, thats no good
Mariam: and a tist tried to calm her down
Mariam: and he asked what she was upset about
Mariam: and that alone was enough to trigger the emotion again
Mariam: and actually regress her back to the event that had caused the panic attack to begin with
Mariam: so she was living it again
sleepy: Yikes
Mariam: fortunately we had a professional hypnotherapist in the chat at the time
Mariam: so he was able to help
Mariam: but yeah, avoid strong emotions
Mariam: though a lust-based induction can be a very good idea with the right person
Mariam: so really, you don't need an induction. just get acquiescence and bypass the critical factor
Mariam: a story can do that, or roleplaying, or just conversation
Mariam: watch Derren Brown on youtube and you'll see him doing this stuff a lot
Mariam: he only really does inductions with difficult subjects, because most of the time he doesn't need to
Mariam: now the advantage of an induction is that it's usually the easiest way
Mariam: when you know what you're doing, you can do that Derren Brown stuff
Mariam: but for beginners, it's usually best to stick with inductions
Mariam: so here we are half an hour after the lesson started
Mariam: and I'm ready to talk about inductions now
Naomi: Oh god
Mariam: haha
Mariam: when you're just getting started as a tist, the easiest thing to do is to copy someone else's induction
Mariam: that's how I started, actually
Mariam: but I don't recommend that
Mariam: because when you find someone that induction doesn't work for, you won't know how to adapt
Mariam: like say you have this lovely induction about walking along a peaceful beach
Mariam: and then your subject tells you that her mother drowned in the ocean in front of her when she was three
Mariam: obviously that beach induction isn't going to give her feelings of safety and relaxation
Mariam: and you might use it as a fear induction and get her under, but like I said, you generally don't want to work with emotions like fear
Mariam: so what I suggest for when you're first learning is that you write inductions every day
Mariam: and that you never use an induction that you've written
Mariam: writing the inductions is to give you an idea of how they're structured
Mariam: so that when you're in a session with a subject, you can just make one up, and it will work
Mariam: when you get that subject who saw her mother drown, you can immediately change your beach into a forest, or have her imagine puppies, or light, or energy, or anything
Mariam: and it won't mess you up that the only induction you know won't work
Mariam: so instead of giving you an induction, I'd rather show you how to write an induction
Mariam: when you're writing an induction, remember what I said about acquiescence and bypassing the critical factor
Mariam: you know those guys on omegle who send their first message that's like a 2000 word paragraph, and they want you to read all of it and tell them when you've gone under?
Mariam: they're not testing for acquiescence
Mariam: sometimes they get acquiescence and they'll actually get someone who went under and stayed under
Mariam: but most of the time it would be more effective if they tested for acquiescence a few times
Mariam: so that they know when the sub is losing interest
Mariam: and they can adjust
Mariam: and that's one of the big secrets of a good induction: it should be interactive
Mariam: ask your sub to respond several times during the induction
Mariam: a yes or no response is good, when they're getting pretty deep, because it will be hard for them to think of more complicated answers
Mariam: but early in the induction, it might be better if you have more complicated questions
Mariam: like an induction I use sometimes is I tell people that we feel emotions in the body
Mariam: so in English we have certain phrases, like "a pain in the neck" means annoyance, and "butterflies in the stomach" means nervousness
Mariam: when we feel an emotion, we feel it somewhere in the body
Mariam: so I'll ask someone to imagine friendship, and tell me where they can feel it in their body, and I'll ask a few questions about how it looks
Mariam: "what color is friendship?"
Mariam: "where is it in your body?"
Mariam: "how does it move through your body? is it like water, or like heat, or like electricity, or like something else entirely?"
Mariam: this serves two purposes
Mariam: 1. it's getting the sub to imagine friendship, which means that it's getting them to feel it, which is making them feel more trust and acquiescence, because your friends always have your trust and acquiescence
Mariam: 2. it's getting the sub to participate, which is a test of acquiescence. remember, the faster they respond, the more likely it is that I have acquiescence
Mariam: so early in the induction I'll ask these abstract questions that they need to think about
Mariam: but later in the induction, I'll drop into simpler questions that they can answer without thinking very much
Mariam: because the deeper they go, the harder it will be for them to think
Mariam: and another advantage to asking questions during inductions is that it will help you test for roleplayers
Mariam: there's no absolute test for roleplayers -- some of them will always be able to fool you
Mariam: but if you ask lots of questions during your induction, you'll get an idea of how someone who's really in trance will respond
Mariam: like if you get deep into the induction, and you know that at this point people usually just answer "yes" or "y", and somebody is typing out "I will do anything you say, my mistress!" they're probably roleplaying
Mariam: though sometimes you get odd responses, so you can't always be sure
Mariam: you may want to do a few tests before you confront them about it
Mariam: anyway, that's how you put acquiescence in your induction
YinYang: The depends on how they percieve trance, right? o.o
Mariam: yeah, all subs are different, so you won't get two subs that react exactly the same to everything
Mariam: and sometimes one of them will be really weird
Mariam: but that doesn't mean for sure that they're roleplaying
Mariam: I've had a number of subs that I was convinced were roleplaying, and then I found out later that they weren't
Mariam: but when you're writing your induction, you need to keep the critical factor in mind too
Mariam: remember that your induction needs to bypass the critical factor in some way
Mariam: there are lots of ways to bypass the critical factor, but one of the easiest is getting the sub to imagine something vividly
Mariam: there are other ways to bypass the critical factor, and when you get more experienced you should experiment with them
Mariam: because some of them work much better for certain subs
Mariam: but when you're just starting out, imagination is a really good place to start
Mariam: and you might want to tailor that emotion to the sense your sub favors
Mariam: for most people, they find it very easy to "see" things
Mariam: but every once in a while, you'll get a sub who finds it easier to "hear" things
Mariam: so you might suggest that they hear soft music, or waves crashing on the shore or something
Mariam: some subs prefer to "touch" things
Mariam: so you might have them imagine they're getting a massage
Mariam: or taking a hot bath
Mariam: and the last thing you need to keep in mind when you're writing an induction is the words you use
Mariam: certain words work very well in hypnosis
Mariam: and I can tell you maybe 100 of these words
Mariam: but this lesson is already long enough, so I want to focus on a few of the most important ones
Mariam: the absolute most important word is someone's name
Mariam: because most people think that they're the most important person in the universe
Mariam: ego
Mariam: and their name is the word that everybody has used to refer to the most important person in the universe for as long as they can remember
Mariam: so people tend to have a very strong reaction to their name
Mariam: and if you don't know their name, the word "you" can work very well too
Mariam: and you'll see that in advertising
Mariam: lots of advertisements will use the word "you"
Mariam: "imagine yourself in a new Subaru"
Mariam: by extension, because people tend to see themselves as so important, the words "please" and "thank you" can often be very powerful
Mariam: because you're treating them like they're very important
Mariam: they're especially good when you're talking to the sub's unconscious mind
Mariam: because the unconscious mind tends to be particularly childish, so it likes to think of itself as very important
Mariam: "because" is also very important
Mariam: they did a study where they'd have someone in a busy office building
Mariam: where there's a line to use the copier
Mariam: and someone would try to cut in line, saying "excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the machine?"
Mariam: and 60% of the time, the person would let them cut in line
Mariam: but when the new person said "may I use the machine because I need to make copies?"
Mariam: 93% of the time, they let the person cut in front of them
Mariam: because the word "because" sounds like it's giving a reason, even when it's not
Mariam: the person says "because I need to make copies"
Mariam: well, obviously they need to make copies
Mariam: everybody in line needs to make copies
Mariam: that's the only thing the machine is good for
Mariam: but the word "because" makes it sound important
Mariam: and pretty much any word you use in logic or in computer programming is very powerful in hypnosis
Mariam: words like "and", "or", "if", "then", "when", "while", "as"
Mariam: "and" and "or" are especially useful
Mariam: when you use the word "and" to connect things, it makes both of those things more important
Mariam: like if I say "you may find yourself getting sleepy and your thoughts slowing down"
Mariam: if one of those things is true, the other one becomes true, because it's tied to something that the sub already knows is true
Mariam: and if neither one is true, the sub will start to make them true, because they're both linked to something that could be true, which makes them more likely to be true
Mariam: that works when you're connecting something to itself too
Mariam: "more and more" and "deeper and deeper" are more powerful than "more" and "deeper"
Mariam: you'll see lots of tists doing that
Mariam: the word "or" gives the sub a choice -- or at least it makes them feel like they have a choice
Mariam: "you may start to wonder what that relaxation will feel like. will it feel good as your body begins to slow down, or will your body slowing down allow it to feel good?"
Mariam: it sounds like I'm giving the sub a choice, but both outcomes are exactly the same
Mariam: "you can fall into trance as quickly or as slowly as you want to now"
Mariam: this is called a double-bind, and it's so useful that you can even take it outside of hypnosis entirely
Mariam: I had a guy use this on me once when he was trying to sell me a painting
Mariam: he showed me two paintings, and he said "would you rather buy this one or this one?"
Mariam: he's giving me a choice of one painting over the other -- but both choices mean I'm buying a painting
Mariam: so by giving me an unimportant choice, he's taking my important choice away
sleepy: Did it work?
Mariam: haha, yes. I think I bought three of them
sleepy:
Mariam: the worst of it is, I knew what he was doing when he did it
Mariam: and I still bought the paintings
YinYang: Hey, maybe you liked the paintings xD
Mariam:
Mariam: another word that's very good for taking away a subject's choice is "try"
Mariam: the word "try" suggests that the subject is going to fail
Mariam: a lot of the time you'll see tists saying things like "your hands are powerful magnets, and no matter how hard you try to keep them apart, they stick together"
Mariam: the word "try" makes the suggestion even more powerful, because it's telling them that they'll fail at pulling their hands apart
Mariam: words that are connected to time are very powerful too
Mariam: words like "now", "begin", "start", and "yet"
Mariam: "now" obviously tells the sub that something is happening immediately
Mariam: but the other words are very powerful as well because they suggest that even though something isn't happening right now, it will be very soon
Mariam: "yet" is very powerful for difficult subjects like me
Mariam: because if you tell them "you're starting to feel very relaxed" they'll say "no I'm not"
Mariam: but if you say "you may not feel very relaxed yet"
Mariam: you're suggesting that they're not very relaxed -- which they can agree with -- and you're implying that they will be relaxed soon
Mariam: and they can't disagree with that, because you never actually said it
Mariam: words that suggest imagination are also very powerful
Mariam: because to imagine something, a person has to experience it
Mariam: which is why you might cry during a sad movie, or get excited during an action movie
Mariam: I did an improv class once, and we played a game where I had just arrived, and everyone else had to suggest to me how I got there
Mariam: so I left the room, and they decided that I arrived by flying carpet. so when I came back into the room, they kept trying to get me to guess that I had arrived that way
Mariam: and they kept talking about the carpet on the floor
Mariam: and I still remember that carpet -- it was a large oriental carpet in a deep red color, with an intricate design
Mariam: and a few weeks later I went back to that classroom, and I was surprised to see that there was no carpet on the floor -- there never had been
Mariam: but whenever I think about that class, I remember the carpet. I remember it better than the other students who were actually there with me
Naomi: Oh wow...
Mariam: so what I'm saying is that words like "imagine", "pretend", "remember", "recall", "what's it like when", or "have you ever" are very powerful because they're giving someone a very real experience
Mariam: I've heard about a study they did where people were learning basketball
Mariam: and they had three groups of people. one group would go home and not do anything, the second group would go home and play basketball, and the third group would go home and imagine playing basketball
Mariam: and they found that the group who didn't do anything didn't improve at all, and the group that actually played basketball improved the most, but the group that just imagined playing basketball improved quite a bit too
Mariam: many parts of your mind don't actually know the difference between something you've imagined vividly, and something that actually happened
Mariam: there are lots of other powerful words, but I don't want to overwhelm you
Mariam: so, your homework for this lesson is to write your own inductions
Mariam: I'm going to post the text of the lesson on the forum, and you can use that thread to post all the inductions you've written, and to comment on other people's inductions, give them pointers, and ask them why certain things work
Mariam: let's keep this lesson going after I stop teaching it
Mariam: any questions?
Kyra: No...
Naomi: You might need to separate the posts into different subjects like inductions: part 1 etc XD
Mariam: haha
Naomi: And no, I have non atm :3
Mariam: yeah, maybe
sleepy: I don't think I have enough time to write a new induction every day
Naomi: I could try to write one though
YinYang: Lol I got a comment. On omegle some girl talked about Derren Brown, and I was like "Hmmm, fine, talk about some other guy!" But I looked him up, and it taught me a lot
YinYang: Pretty cool stuff... scary cool xD
Mariam: Derren Brown is awesome
Mariam: I didn't want to post links during the lesson, because everyone would be watching him instead of me
sleepy: Is all the stuff he does real?
Mariam: no, not all of it
sleepy: I looked him up and watched a bit :{
Mariam: he is a stage magician as well
Mariam: so like there's a trick he does where he has a girl blindfolded, and he says don't say anything until I ask
Mariam: and then he taps on her shoulder
Mariam: and nobody notices that
Mariam: but then he taps his shadow's fingers on her shadow's shoulder
Mariam: and he asks what did you feel?
Mariam: and she says "you tapped on my shoulder"
YinYang: Haha, very tricky
Naomi: Omfg...
Mariam: so yeah... he does stuff like that
Mariam: it's a magic trick, not hypnosis
Mariam: but a lot of his hypnosis stuff is real
sleepy: There's one where he has a blindfolded girl drink what he claims is vinegar.
Mariam nods.
sleepy: But I'm pretty sure the bottle of vinegar had a fake top. So he has someone else test the vinegar, which was actually in the top
sleepy: But the bottom was just dark water
sleepy: You can't actually just drink vinegar ever, right?
Mariam: you can
Alexander: if you believe something is truely real your mind and body will believe it is
Naomi: PLACEBO EFFECT EVERYBODY
Mariam: Roman soldiers used to drink something called posca, I think
sleepy: It was like 8 oz
Mariam: poscha?
Cliff: I've seen subjects doing the 'eat an onion like it's an apple' suggestion, without noticing
sleepy: But it's pretty darn acidic
Mariam: which was basically wine that had turned to vinegar
sleepy: Right
sleepy: But an onion is pretty easy
Cliff: so I think the vinegar thing wouldn't be too dissimilar
sleepy: I could eat an onion
sleepy: Vinegar is acidic
sleepy: Real acidic
Cliff: you could?
Mariam: yeah, vinegar is acidic, but I think it was probably real
Cliff: like, a whole bite, raw?
Mariam: and yeah, I know people who eat whole raw onions without being hypnotized
sleepy: Really?
Mariam: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOEKdaXIEHc
Mariam: that's one of the links I wanted to post of his
Mariam: as how you don't need to do inductions
Duncan: seriously
Duncan: blocked for me cos im UK XD
Mariam: he's doing covert hypnosis
Naomi: ^^
Naomi: Covert Hypnosis ? o.O
Naomi:
?Mariam: in a shopping mall
Naomi: What's Covert hypnosis? >.< Are we going to get onto that subject? =o
Mariam: I would love to have a lesson on covert hypnosis. unfortunately, I'm not very good at it
YinYang: I'm trying to learn it atm, I have some tabs open xD
Naomi: I'll just google it x'D
Naomi: Covert Hypnosis seems fun x'D
Doll: whats a covert?
Cliff: ok, found a mirror that's not blocked in the UK
Alexander: its when someone hypnotizes a subject without the sub knowing doll
Mariam: so basically what Derren Brown is doing in that video is he repeats this message for half an hour:
Mariam: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Palisades mall. We hope that your shopping experience is an UPLIFTING ARM, and I'd like to bring to your PAY ATTENTION some very special offers. Details of our special offers can be found HANDILY by the elevators, so why not come RIGHT ARM UP and see for yourselves. Our special offers will only be available for a short period of time, so all those customers wishing to REACH UP and grab this opportunity should do so NOW.
Mariam: he only does the NOW bit at the end
sleepy: Right
Mariam: but it all sounds very natural when you're not paying attention to it
Naomi: Ooooh
Mariam: but it's all full of suggestions
Naomi: Alright
sleepy: Some people must have just gotten there though
sleepy: I think they were the ones who paused a bit
Naomi: I kinda get it
Mariam: and when he says "now", everyone raises their hands
Naomi: Is it spoken normally or kind of emphasised?
YinYang: lol, uplifting arm, that doesn't even make sense
Mariam: it is kinda emphasized
Mariam: it sounds like he's saying "an uplifting one"
YinYang: But the subconcious mind gets the message even without it
Naomi: Okay.
Mariam: if you're not paying attention to it
YinYang: PAYING ATTENTION
Mariam:
Naomi: Oooh yeah I see
YinYang: the come right arm up is the best part imo
Naomi: Because if you're hearing noise in the background
Naomi: As well as his emphasised voice
Naomi: Your mind will numb out the suggestions
Naomi: By the noise
Naomi: And only attempt to listen
Mariam nods.