Obama and Hypnosis
April 18, 2009
I was on the Altered Egos radio program from Nanaimo, BC this morning, and we were talking about hypnosis, NLP and influence as it relates to political speech, advertising, etc.
I mentioned an awesome paper about Obama’s use of hypnotic language and patterning – the paper can be found here. In most of its moral conclusions, the paper is far right and ridiculous (e.g. “Obama’s actions are far more than simply lying”).
However, in its analysis of Obama’s use of language, the paper is worth a read. It’s an excellent description of many hypnotic language patterns and how they can be used artfully to influence a large audience.
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Hypnosis and Memory
February 7, 2008
Anyone who has studied hypnosis formally won’t be particularly surprised by this, but a study has shown that hypnosis can actually allow the brain to suppress memories. From the article:
“MRI scans of their brains under hypnosis showed reduced activity in some brain regions during memory suppression, and increased activity in others.
When their recall was tested later, the suppressed regions were reactivated when the cue was given to bring back the memory.”
This is interesting to me not as it relates strictly to hypnosis, but to the power of the mind itself. As I said recently, hypnosis is not a distinct state (i.e. having physiological markers unique to it) but indicative of a particular condition that can occur in many different situations. So, knowing that the mind has the power to suppress memories given a receptive state and a willingness to go along is an important marker.
Imagine if there was a situation where it might be good to be able to get someone to repress the memory of, oh, say, obtaining information from someone… I’m sure you can, can’t you?
InSecure Magazine
February 4, 2008
Had to post on this – I’ve been writing a two-part series for (In)Secure Magazine. The first part posted today in (In)Secure #15.
This one is about the 3 main skills of an advanced social engineer – please check it out.
Hypnoticon – Day 1 (PM)
February 2, 2008
Finally posting this late on Day 2 while watching a great talk on “Instant Inducations” (more on that one later).
Well, we went through the rest of the day yesterday learning and spending most of the day in and out of trance. Boy, was I fractionated. A wonderful day, all around.
We missed out on walkabout hypnosis – unfortunately, it turned out that their view of walkabout hypnosis and mine wasn’t exactly the same. I keep forgetting about the two major frames for the formal use of hypnosis: therapy and entertainment. The walkabout exercise was far more about entertainment than I had thought coming in. We were doing “table approaches” – think of a magician walking up to you in a mall to show you a card trick.
So, Melina and I went off to grab some lunch and plot our next moves with our video camera. We came up with a wonderful list – I’m sure that it’ll start being on YouTube sometime soon.
The afternoon was more of the same as the morning – not nearly as advanced as I had hoped it would be, but some wonderful trances and some good practice. The highlight of the afternoon was having Brian David Phillips drop me in to the Esdaile state. Always a wonderful feeling.
The evening was fantastic – as with any good conference, the networking is ALWAYS better than the conference itself.
The State/Agreement Distinction
February 1, 2008
Anyone who has read the Wikipedia article on hypnosis is aware of the debate between whether hypnosis is a distinct state or whether it’s simply a set of agreements between the hypnotist and the subject.
I’ve been pondering the debate all morning as I’ve watched the work of Brian David Phillips in the advanced class at Hypnoticon. The beauty of watching hypnotists performing hypnosis demonstrations for others is that their goal (much like magicians teaching magic tricks) is to precisely and exquisitely demonstrate the phenomenon in ways that allow others to replicate the behavior.
More and more, I am falling on the “agreement” side of the argument. I find myself agreeing with Derren Brown that hypnosis is simply the use of a set of tools (in this case, tools of influence) in a particular way that comes together as a phenomenon called “hypnosis”.
In this case, the tool set is largely based upon compliance. I’m looking forward to testing this theory later in “walkabout hypnosis” – if I have compliance, can I create the state/agreement known as “hypnotic trance” using any action/induction?
At Hypnoticon
January 31, 2008
Well, here we are at Hypnoticon. Melina and I flew in from Chicago today and were, of course, delayed. We missed the majority of tonight’s networking reception, but managed to pick up our badges and are looking forward to getting an early start tomorrow.
The schedule is pretty cool. We’re looking forward to checking out Wendi, Brian David Phillips, and Kim & Tom.
Not to mention tomorrow’s “Walkabout Hypnosis” – it’s social engineering at it’s true finest. This is a group of people who can really do all of the things that I’ve been talking about.
I plan on continuing to post entries throughout the weekend, as well as keeping up on twitter. If you’re at the conference, send me an email or a twitter DM and we’ll sync up.