Talk:Hypnosis/Chapters/History

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Thanks for writing the History of Hypnosis and generously sharing your knowledge. Knowing the history of hypnosis is adding greatly to my understanding of this phenomenon.

The fact that, in the first world, hypnosis is generally dismissed is one of the great mysteries of man. This to me supports the analogy of Dr. Murphy of the conscious mind being a pigmy riding the back of a great and powerful elephant, a powerful and diverse subconscious beast of which the pigmy is only vaguely aware, and who fears that small knowledge which the pigmy has.

May I suggest that you also look into the phenomenon of the Placebo effect, and whether this profound phenomenon is another case of hypnosis? Basically, 65% of people given sugar pills experience a positive response to the pills. I have a dark suspicion that the pharmaceutical giants have a huge knowledge-base repository of the means and methods of using this placebo effect, and that this knowledge allows worthless medicines to easily get approval easily by controlling the details of the administration of the placebo and the medicine in clinical trials.

Is it possible that the placebo effect is the greatest proof extant of the hypnosis "elephant in the room" ?

Charles


 * Thanks, I've very interested in hypnosis and the other closely related items from faith to the exploration and definition of the self (understanding, confidence, image. My objective in developing the book was to cleanup some of the more esoteric stuff and stay close to the scientific.
 * One thing that is missing in the history part is the knowledge in Asia or even the middle-East (beyond the Egyptians) it is clear (and I have other sources that point there for the really interesting stuff (due to more advanced conceptualizations that Cristian religion and then the new scientific spirit seemed to push aside).
 * Yes look on another chapter I cover in more detail the placebo effect that indeed seems to be related (figure of authority, memory, expectation etc...) it truly fascination the lack of deeper investigation on how to optimize and educate people on the power of this type of "controlled delusion".
 * I will try to find the quote for the "pygmy riding the back of a great and powerful elephant". I had heard it before and it rely seems a good figurative way to put our understanding of conscious vs subconscious. --Panic (discuss • contribs) 06:39, 16 November 2012 (UTC)