by sarnoga » February 27th, 2010, 8:46 am
The question has been asked at many times and in many ways. Can physical change in the human body be accomplished through hypnosis.
While there are very few things in the world that cannot be honestly disputed, it would seem that if one begins from the premise that hypnosis can induce changes in the mind, then the answer to that question must be yes. Hypnosis can induce physical changes in the human body.
Now you have the answer, not a very useful answer but still an answer. Of course even that answer while not particularly useful depends upon several other things being true.
Sure, the position could be taken that hypnosis doesn’t affect anything, it is all just fraud, make believe and tricks. It seems likely though that anyone who really believed that would not be interested in the other question as they would consider it ridiculous.
Still, if it is taken as true that Hypnosis directly affects the mind one can try on the next statement for size and see how it fits.
The mind can directly effect the brain. If you accept that statement move on to the next.
The brain can directly effect the body. If you also accept that proposition then you are left with the conclusion that yes, hypnosis can bring about physical changes in the human body.
That is still not a very useful answer. Well, what kind of changes, permanent or temporary, large or small, significant or insignificant, etc etc. The questions are endless. And at least at this time I think they may be unanswerable, except in so much as one can rely on personal experience and the experience of others, both of which is often unreliable.
The reason that there cannot be more useful answers as to the extent of the possible changes to the human body that can be induced by hypnosis is that there is so much about both the mind and the body that we don’t know.
We don’t really even know where the mind leaves off and the body starts. Can you even come up with an accurate definition of what the mind is that isn’t subject to honest dispute?
We know the mind can have effects on the brain, but we don’t know the extent of those effects. We know the brain can have effects on the body but again we don’t know the extent of those effects.
With all that is unknown, which is considerable, it seems to be less than helpful to ask exactly what changes hypnosis can bring about in the human body.
What seems to be a much more useful question is to ask what is hypnosis good at and what is it not so good at.
As stated earlier, it is likely that the only direct effect hypnosis has is on the mind. Or at least that is the generally accepted theory. Everything else it effects indirectly by directly effecting the mind. Some things removed by one step and some by two, some more.
Hypnosis is very good at:
Simple changes in Behavior.
Simple changes in perceptions.
Simple changes in desires.
Simple changes in thought patterns and processes.
Causing physical sensations or the perception of them.
Blocking pain.
Recovering old memories.
Creating sexual responses.
Hypnosis is ok at:
Complex changes in behavior
Complex changes in perceptions.
Complex changes in desires.
Complex changes in thought patters and processes.
Creating new memories.
Visual and aural hallucinations.
Hypnosis is some good at:
Controlling some bodily functions that are generally thought to be involuntary functions, heart rate, blood pressure, etc
Hypnosis is not so good at
Simple physical changes.
Hormone changes.
It is very difficult to have dramatic success in the following areas through hypnosis.
Complex or large physical changes.
Im sure everyone has things they want to add to one part of the list or another or maybe move from one part to another. That’s fine, make your own list. But remember this, however you structure that list, if you base it on the arguments above you are basing it on the generally accepted theories of hypnosis that its direct effects are on the mind and any other changes it makes are indirect by working through the mind.
But there is another thing that can be thrown into the equation. Or at least that could be if we knew more about it. Nobody yet fully understands the power and abilities of the human mind. It just may be that the mind can control things more directly than is generally thought. It may be that the mind can directly effect parts of the body without having to use the brain to do so. It may be that it can affect other physical objects that are not even part of the body. So until we better understand the power of the human mind we will never be able to truly know the limits of the power of hypnosis. Likewise we don’t know the full limits of the human brain.
So it just may be that hypnosis can induce changes to the human body in ways we don’t understand. And finally, all of this, both the unknown power of the mind and the accepted theories of hypnosis leave out one other important factor and consideration when attempting to determine the extent to which hypnosis can cause changes to the human body.
IFM... that’s it, IFM. Don’t forget IFM. It’s fucking magic!
Regards,
Sarnoga.