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Hypnotism and Zealotry
In the first weeks of my freshman year, my college hosted a hypnotist who gave a large demonstration. He invited volunteers to come up on stage and be hypnotized. I was curious enough that I volunteered, but when I joined the other folks on stage and the hypnotist began his work, I did not fall under his spell and I was sent back into the audience to watch. As the show unfolded, I was glad that I did not succumb, as I laughed at my classmates acting like chickens and showing us their amazing dance moves. I don’t know for certain but I strongly suspect that the fellow in this video is the same hypnotist, because his show is very similar (although instead of dance moves he’s got them showing off their kung fu prowess):
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that people who are susceptible to hypnotism are also more susceptible to mass hysteria or zealotry. In the video, the hypnotist suggests those people are more imaginative, which could just be a nice way of saying that they can be blinded to reality more easily. Zealots for “issues” such as veganism or climate change often look as silly and grounded in reality as the two individuals did in the video who were convinced they were kung fu masters with something really special and important to share with the audience.
Published in Group Writing
You started this, Mama or Mrs. Toad or Mrs. Toder or Ms Mama.
Au contraire, mon frere. I clearly state in my avatar what my preferred mode of address is.
I never asked to get born into this world of suffering and woe and confusing modes of address.
Just don’t call me “Yo Mama.”
It’s “Ma’am” if we ever meet face-to-face . . .
If we ever meet face-to-face I will be sure to call you ma’am.
LOL . . . Mama Toad!
Only she gets to call you ma’am?
Whatever she wants . . .
I look forward to meeting you all someday. And I’ll call you whatever you want.
They installed new HR software at work. The personal information section allowed you to fill in a preferred name.
They vetoed ‘Tracer Bullet’.
I will kneel before your Toadness and accept whatever title you bestow upon me. Just make sure my wife can still breathe as she laughs her head off . . .
I’ve heard she likes to go by “Hotcha Mama!”
I have been in the air most of today.
I am saying that we all go into trances. Have you ever acted mindlessly while completing a task? Congratulations, that is a trance. As is said above, easy to do with TV.
Some people do this easier that others, and some people are more creative than others.
Everyone can go into a trance. It is just a mode of operation. Some people are better at it than others.
Professor.
Or, “Duuuude!”
I tend to limit myself to a respectful ‘hubba hubba!’
Which is good, because that’s how I tend to think of people on Ricochet anyway.
I don’t much care how you address me, as long as I know I’m the one being addressed.
As my dad always says, “Just don’t call me late for supper.”
That too.
Well you do kinda look like one of my high school gym teachers.
They legalized pot in Atlanta? Hehe . . .
More litteral than that. In LA for a conference.
Shoulda had a Meetup while you were there . . .
nobody wants to meetup with me unless I hypnotyize them heh
For the record I’d like to state that I’m vulnerable to the hypnosis method known as buying the drinks.
I thought we were all supposed to be on a first-name basis these days? That pretty much renders the whole issue obsolete.
I too attended a hypnosis demonstration in my dorm, freshman year of college, 1994.
I had no idea until now this was a standard feature of the college experience.
I once read a very odd book called The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes, and I couldn’t figure out if the author was a quack or a genius (or possibly both). He posits a very elaborate theory that visual and auditory hallucinations, of the kind experienced today by people we would call crazy, were quite common, everyday occurances for people in the distant past. Thus, when we read in ancient literature from around the globe accounts of gods, spirits, and ancestors appearing and speaking to people, this was neither myth nor metaphor but simply a literal account of what those people had experienced, namely hallucinations appearing and telling them what to do, and they obeyed.
I was reminded of this because he had a chapter on hypnosis, which he theorizes is a remnant from this prior stage in the development of consciousness, allowing people to re-enter the state where they blindly obey the voice of authority.
Shoulda hypnotized me to pay your bill in Atlanta. Hehe . . .
You are cordially invited to the next Meetup . . .
Sounds like marriage.
Oh, hi Honey! No, just making a comment on- [smack]