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What connection is there, if
any, between hypnosis and psychic phenomena?
Hypnosis and psychic functioning are both strange and
little understood phenomena, and there is a tendency to
think of them together for that reason. They’re both
unusual! However, there are more substantial reasons to
mention the two phenomena together. Historically,
several phenomena which we today call psychic were
observed to occur rather routinely in persons who had
undergone hypnosis. One of these was the phenomenon then
called "community of sensation," in which a hypnotized
person reported perceiving sensations (for example,
tastes) being directly experienced by another person at
a distance. Today, we would consider this a form of
telepathy. Another phenomenon was the induction and
termination of hypnosis itself at a distance. Well known
experiments along these lines were conducted in 1886 by
the French psychiatrist Pierre Janet and were later
repeated and elaborated in the 1930s by Leonid Vasiliev
who might be called the father of parapsychology in
Russia.
More recently, it’s been found that hypnosis is a
favorable condition to the occurrence of many forms of
ESP. Hypnotized persons tend to perform better in
laboratory tests of clairvoyance, telepathy, and
precognition. Precisely why this is so remains unclear,
but several hypotheses have been advanced: The hypnotic
subject is very relaxed; he has induced in himself (with
the help of the hypnotist) a state of isolation from
sensory impressions that might normally divert his
attention away from more subtle ESP impressions; he has
fewer distracting thoughts and distracting physical
sensations.
The hypnotized person’s way of thinking changes so that
he or she is less likely to think in ways that are
incompatible with good ESP performance and more likely
to think in ways favorable to the retrieval of ESP
information. The hypnotized person is suggestible. Thus,
it is possible to increase his confidence in his own
psychic ability. Fears and apprehensions that normally
interfere with ESP may be temporarily removed. Hypnosis
is a well-specified ritual in which a person can place
his trust and which can also remove some feeling of
responsibility for good or poor ESP performance. Both of
these factors could aid ESP performance in the
laboratory. Physiological and psychological conditions
which are believed to be favorable to ESP either occur
automatically in the hypnotized subject as he relaxes
or, if not, they might be suggested by the hypnotist.
Hypnosis and parapsychology are also similar in terms of
their history of acceptance by the scientific community.
At first frowned upon because they included phenomena
that were unfamiliar and not easily explained by current
scientific world views, they are gradually becoming less
unfamiliar, more fully understood, and more acceptable
in science and in medicine. Progress has been more rapid
in the case of hypnosis. Consequently, hypnosis is now
an acceptable object of scholarly and scientific
interest and has several practical applications. Perhaps
the same will be true for parapsychology in the years to
come.
Can mutual hypnosis be used to help subjects to
perform better in ESP experiments?
A California psychologist, Dr. Charles Tart, has
reported experiments in "mutual hypnosis" in which each
of two persons were hypnotized and were hypnotized by
the other. Tart reported several interesting phenomena
in such cases including possible instances of telepathy.
The technique seems to be a very powerful one for
creating empathy and closeness in two persons. If the
participants are not properly prepared for such
closeness, psychological problems could develop. Thus,
the technique should be used carefully and only by
persons who understand its possible dangers as well as
its benefits. |
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