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heavenlyabyss
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11 Jun 2015, 10:24 pm

http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/americas_go ... eo-2015-05

What do you think of this?

I'm not an expert but it appears to me that Howie actually was hypnotized.

I found this fascinating to watch.

It's also a fuzzy ethical question and it's posted in this forum because Howie has OCD.



Simmian7
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12 Jun 2015, 6:08 pm

i'm still unsure about it. cuz then later in the show....he climbs on the cuddle couch pile with no hesitation. i'm not a germaphope... but i don't like touching others cuz of the way it feels. i have sensitivity issues. ^_^


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heavenlyabyss
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14 Jun 2015, 11:49 pm

That's an interesting point about the cuddle party. I suppose there are two possibilities: Howie is a pathological liar, or somehow his germaphobia is just related to his hands. I think maybe it's just a hand shaking thing, not sure.

In any case, the point is that whether or not this staged television act is real, people can be hypnotized this way. And I believe it is possible this hypnotist could have gotten Howie to do this for real, something that he would never do otherwise.

If you look up his other videos on youtube, you can see the hypnotist, Chris Jones, hypnotizing whole groups of people. Most of his acts are rather tasteless, since he is usually just making audience members do stupid things. I was very impressed though with his act on AGT (I'm hoping it's not just a stunt). It sounds like I'm promoting this guy which I shouldn't be but it was impressive.

Unfortunately, the feat was accomplished using distractions and trickery, not by actually curing his OCD.



Richard Cole
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02 Jul 2015, 6:27 am

The performer is very knowledgeable about hypnotic induction, and this is a great induction. I had a little chuckle when he suggested "staying up past your bed time" right before Mr. Mandel actually went under. From start to finish he is priming and reinforcing Mr. Mandel for the actual induction, testing his suggestibility and compliance, prepping him for the physical touch, and then uses a non-contact induction to actually hypnotize him. I thought it was quite clever. Where Mr. Stern got impatient is that when performing stage hypnotism vs clinical hypnotism where there is a presupposition of willingness to follow the suggestions, there is some "prep work" involved to "prime" the subject to be hypnotized. No one can be hypnotized against their will (that's not to say that hypnotic language patterns cannot be used covertly to persuade, but that's a different discussion), so when working in a performance setting you go into it with no idea how open to suggestion the subject might be, what their conception of hypnotism is vs the reality of hypnotism, how resistant they might be to suggestion, and there are exercises that are often necessary to frame the subject into willful compliance ("yes framing") and establish a rapport enough to make them comfortable enough to follow the suggestions. Technically speaking this was a very well executed induction and have no reason to question its effectiveness.

From an ethical standpoint, the Manchurian Candidate scenario is by and large fiction. No one can be hypnotized to do something that would create a cognitive dissonance from the contrast with their own morals and beliefs. Many people, myself included, understand that our compulsions are silly and may not be rooted in reality. Compulsions are learned behavioral responses to stimuli, not hard wired. I am not familiar enough to know if Mr. Mandel is truly pathophobic or if he has issues with touch, or where he stands with his aversion to handshakes. However, hypnotism can be quite effective in treating phobias, habits, and compulsions. In other words, somewhere deep in Howie's head he is perfectly willing to shake hands. At some point along the journey from unconscious thought to conscious action there is a roadblock. If it were me in the role of hypnotist I would have included an amnesia suggestion during the waking process, but that's just my opinion.



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24 Jul 2015, 8:46 pm

UPDATE:

Poor quality, I know, but here's what happened to that guy.



(Also, ignore the bearded-woman-comedian. He's not part of it. ;))


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heavenlyabyss
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25 Jul 2015, 3:23 am

Well, that's unfortunate I was hoping he would go further.

Anyway, hypnotism is real but this guy was kind of a jerk for pretending to be hypnotized. Not cool. Kind of a jackass.

I imagine it's rather difficult to hypnotize someone on stage. Some are susceptible, some aren't.



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25 Jul 2015, 9:42 pm

Yes, I agree.


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