Plot twist: The woman at that family event was just pretending to be hypnotized, in order to convince him to believe in himself, So actually since that day, he has been in her hypnotic trance

"People are just exploiting the believe that they are being controlled by someone or something else to give themselves the legitimacy to do what they already wanted to do and be who they already wanted to be" - Words to live by.

"all hypnosis is self hypnosis"... thats basically it ...

This is the first non BS explanation I’ve seen about hypnosis. Now it makes perfect sense to me. I know Ben, and he explained it to me before the TeD talk, very rare to have someone so logical and crisp in his explanation, 5min and I got it. Great job on the talk!

He's coming from a magician perspective, utilizing physiological "tricks" to get his outcome. There are many hypnotists who put all the power in the subject and NOT themselves, and get wonderful results. He's explaining "expectancy", which is only one piece of a bigger puzzle. An important piece mind you, but still only a piece.

I was professionally hypnotized and can attest it is a real thing, not in a magic show context. It is basically entering a really deep trance (if you meditate, you've been there) and being "unconscious" enough that all instructions and guidance enter freely into your mind. You recognize you can break the "spell" at any time, but if instructions are not absurd or dangerous, then you are inhabiting a really particular place where, and this is the best description I can give, your conscious "operating system" is in the background.... There, but not quite so. It is REALLY interesting.

I never really believed in hypnosis because already at a young age i found out about what he is telling us here. And i do believe he is absolutely correct. I realized this when i dont remember under what context but i learned of a trick: the trick is that you take a thin rope with a slight weight at the bottom (I used a string with a coin attached to it, a string on its own should also work) and then you hold it in your hand and you can simply tell yourself in what direction the thing is supposed to swing. No concious movement will happen but if you think to yourself i want it to swing from left to right, after a while it will. Same if you say it should swing away and towards you. And then the person that made me do the trick simply told me about micro movements. Movements so tiny your body does them without you even realizing. But as soon as you tell yourself i want it to swing a certain way, your body will make it swing unknowingly because of movements so small you dont even notice em. And then same thing applies here. If the person hypnotising you tells you the arm youre holding up feels so heavy that it will fall down imedeately after he snaps. That probably wont happen because such a huge movement from the arm is to obviously controled by you but if he says there is a weight on it and its slowly moving down, then yeah these micro movements wont be noticable to be of your own doing. Hope i was able to get my point across

Why is his shadow wearing a hat

Can you imagine if this was a TED talk during the Salem witch trials, no doubt this is sorcery

Everynight i got hypnotize for like 8-10 hours

I went to a hypnotist show in Vegas once and was brought up on stage with four or five other people. Naturally, I was not under the hypnotist's 'control' and everything I did was of my own volition. I was, however, under the control of peer pressure, I would say. There are a number of things that went through my mind as I was on stage, "Everyone else is sort of doing these silly things and they are obviously not under any kind of spell either. So, I will just play along so as not to stand out," and "I don't want to ruin the show for everyone, so I will play along just to keep the show running smoothly." I imagine the other participants had similar thoughts and ideas. To this day, though, the friends I went to the show with believe that I was legitimately hypnotized. I didn't want to tell them it was fake so as not to ruin the 'fun' or 'magic' of it.

Basically an intensely focused and guided belief!

It’s a bit harder to explain because you have to think about consciousness when discussing this. We like to think about our mind being our own and in our control, but realistically it is not. You cannot control things like your heart beating, emotion, or basic functions (you can train and somewhat impact them, but never have complete control over them). This is because identity is a concept that we created, we are essentially a character that was created by the human mind. If this sounds outlandish, than you wouldn’t be alone, but you cannot deny that no matter how hard you concentrate, you cannot stop your heart by simply telling it too. So, when you talk about hypnosis, you aren’t just talking about convincing someone to agree to everything you say or to believe you are in control. You are really convincing the brain that the character/identity or whatever you want to call yourself which process everything is not in control. It’s not about convincing them that you are in control, it’s about convincing them that they aren’t in control

Man i keep imagining him say *WOW you can really dance*

This is similar to what the doctor said to me, when I argued that depressed people cannot make themselves better by thinking positively. He simply said "It's not they "cannot" the truth of the matter is "they will not".

Interesting! I like the occam's razor style of thinking. Seems like a good way to approach the topic

The paradox of hypnosis is that we know of hundreds of ways to induce it, but don't know what it is that is being induced

Great explanation! Thanks a lot for sharing this video! 🙏❤️

What a brilliant & amazing presentation and insight, I can't thank you enough Ben!! This was truely the most insightful TED-talk I've ever seen. All the best for you, love from Berlin to Israel!

this guy explained it all to the truest extent ever

Wow Ben, great Ted talk! Appreciate you referring me to it

I never believe when I see others get hypnotized. It has to happen to me in order to believe it

The phenomena can be tested to debunk the idea that something isn't actually happening. It's not hard to get someone stuck to a chair and take a leap of faith. The hypnotist can put $100 ten feet in front of the person, tell them if they can get it, they can keep it. The hypnotist can even say he's leaving the room and there are no cameras. The money will still be sitting there. People reveal passwords to their phones, credit card numbers, their address... and can pass a polygraph test afterward that they never revealed any info, and weren't hypnotized. (when they clearly were) What we call placebo is much more powerful than a trick of making someone believe a lie. People can go from balling their eyes out, to laughing in less than a second. They can get goosebumps on cue, raise their heart rate without doing anything physical, or remember where they put an object they thought they lost. You can't trick a person into chugging a brutal bottle of hot sauce as if it was a cold beer like you can under hypnosis, or holding a spider without a negative reaction, when they say they are terrified by them.

Belief is a powerful thing.

Glad I watched till the end. Luv this theory and mindset

Ive been hypnotized over an audio.

Wow I got chills at the end.

Dude this is priceless! Thanks!

This sparked a passion very well spoken and seems legit

The thing is that you’re not unconscious at all, you are aware of everything but at the same time just focused on suggestions. It’s like going to the cinema, you are so invested in the film that you don’t even hear people eating popcorn

Great young man, exact explanation, thanks a lot . ❤

I connect with this guy. I make my audience sleep all the time.

GREAT presentation

Thank you, it's really interesting and I learned from it a lot!

I wonder, if after explaining this, you would have asked another volunteer on stage, would the change of successfully hypnotizing that second volunteer be significantly smaller?

Its so simple, but makes so much sense... (dude i love watching ted talks man)

What an interesting talk! I wonder how many therapists really perceive this as you do

That was really interesting, always wanted to know how that worked. Thanks!

Very interesting, and also explains why my entire life I've always been "unhypnotizeable", even though I've always "believed" in hypnosis, and always wished I could be hypnotized. But seeing this video makes me realize now that I always knew that the power did not come from the hypnotist, but from my own mind! And that understanding somehow always "short-circuited" my ability to be hypnotized.

Yea thats y whenever some one say you cant do it,it never works

Well, hes half right. It is all about belief. However, the fact that people in hypnotic trances do enter an altered state of mind in which the brain produces theta waves, much like someone who is meditating or sleeping, indicates a real physiological effect. I would argue that it is another form of guided meditation, not some empty trick or delusion. Of course by the end of the speach he more or less lands on that conclusion, at least by implication.

Ok, I am a 14 year old and using mother's account right now. Like a year ago, watched a video of hypnotism and tried it. I have been trying new things since and now I can make you feel what I am saying and make you forget that it was me who did it. Sometimes it scares me that if I had ever hypnotized myself and made myself forget some important stuff for some reason.

When I was in high school, we had a hypnotist at the after-prom party. When he hypnotized the audience, I just got a tickling feeling in my head that made me want to laugh. One of my friends, however, thought her hands were stuck together. I pried them apart. Perhaps it is at least partially a matter of willpower; the willingness to let someone else call the shots, or the willpower to resist. Even though I'm a very different person now, and honestly in great need of help, I still think I wouldn't be able to be hypnotized. I'm at the mercy of so many things, so I'm not going to relinquish control of the few things I can still control, even temporarily.

You obviously don't understand the trance state. There is no hypnotist involved during "road hypnosis" when you suddenly realize you've passed an exit a long ways back, or wonder why the last hour seems like 5 minutes. There is no hypnotist involved when you read a book and visualize a story in your mind taking place that is almost real. There is no hypnotist involved when you have dreams that are visual and seem real. Hypnosis is a form of trance that may or may not be directed by another person. It requires focus, and only increases the possibility of suggestion working on the unconscious. The unconscious mind does the work. What hypnotic subject wants to jump out of a chair from electric shock? Were they waiting to that anyway, and just needed someone to make it "legitimate" for them? Your simplistic explanation is from the viewpoint of a magician and mentalist. If you're trying to explain away stage hypnosis, you may have some valid points. But unfortunately you didn't just debunk the years and years of scientific study of this phenomenon performed by people much smarter than you.

Thank you very much for this. my mind has been put at greater ease, I learned a lot, and I appreciate this.

I'll consider his explanation and demonstration. It seems very rational as far as his carnival like physical tricks are concerned. Doesn't explain a whole bunch of other strange behaviors it can make people do.

Glorified placebo therapy

Interesting viewpoint. I've always thought that hypnotists targeted the more persuadable audience members or had planted "prop people" in the audience.

Great video!

I just experienced hypnosis for the first time in my life after watching Don’t Worry Darling on Netflix. It wasn’t while I was awake. It was like my dreams were loops of different scenes that had nothing to do with the movie. They were mini nightmares. I woke up and immediately started to read deeper into the movie and quickly realized that there were elements of hypnosis in the movie and I had been hypnotized.

“The Belief” ..... this is true.

That's just crazy, I wanna try that on my own!

True Mastery! Your life/work is truly a blessing Ben!

So the main point is that hypnosis requires a willing/believing subject? That does not mean in anyway that it does not have a deeper mechanism behind it. This would be like saying - I looked deep into it and it seems that the only reason studying with my math tutor works is because I am willing to follow the process he suggests... If you are saying this technique allows someone to quit smoking in an instance - that is not something most people are able to do just using their will power, or even placebo pills. What to speak of surgeries done under hypnosis without pain killers. So even if we accept the prerequisite for the hypnotic state is that the subject believes the hypnotist has some power over him - it does not explain the rest of the process and effects of hypnosis.

Seems like a golden explanation. Thank you.

Great JOB BEN !!

Amazing lecture!

Really interesting! I like this explanation because it brings the power back to the self, we got in us what it takes to heal and solve our problems, sometimes we just need help to realize it and bring that power out.

Thank you very much ben.

very, very good Ben. I must say you did great at actually explaining this topic in a clear and understandable way. Even if I know all hypnosis is self-hypnosis the subject does not necessarily do. In any case, this is not useful to me, being the hypnosis community for years has taught me this, and people in the hypnosis community have known for a while. Even if it is not a new claim, and others have presented it in the past. You yourself have done this in a way no one has. In a public, open access platform where you talk about it in a way everyone can understand. So for that, thank you Ben. btw see you later u/bencale

Really cool!

That only works on highly suggestible people. When they aren't, different methods are used. This guy has a lot to learn.

Very hypnomagical!

Great presentation!

love this guy

There is definitely a lot of truth to this, especially as relates to stage hypnosis, but it fails to explain the physiological changes in the brain that can be measured with MRI. It fails to explain how anesthetic free surgery can be performed under hypnotism. It fails to explain how hypnotherapy can mediate involuntary shakes in someone with parkinsons. These "tricks" do change the way are brain is functioning momentarily, and the pathways that are being used.

Outstanding 👍

I find it extremely uncomfortable to close my eyes in front of other people, so I would probably need a sleeping mask instead if I was on stage. I have tried hypnosis twice; once with my eyes open and once with a mask. It didn't work in either cases. When the hypnotist says "you arms are starting to feel heavy" and stuff like that, I get a little annoyed because my arms are NOT getting heavy. Neither do I experience any of the other stuff I am told that I am experiencing. Also, some people have aphantasia, and for them it will be a little hard to imagine the things the hypnotist tell them to imagine.

So hypnotists really are con artists, it's just that they're conning the person being hypnotized and not everyone else who came to watch.

Wow !!!!!! Literally belief is everything !

I suppose what he is doing is taking advantage of something called the "placebo effect"

Very nice explain hypnosis sir

Another key component, I think, is also that it's fun to be hypnotized and give up control to someone else for a little while. Exactly why, I'm not sure, but it may have something to do with our natural desire to make connections with other people. Or it could be that we prefer to take the mental path of least resistance at certain times.

Perfectly said!!! Hipnotists creat belief on the subject that they hold control over the subject...subject follows what the hipnotist say..and they believe they are hipnotised..

This is amazing.

This is well explained thanks

@9:55 i felt the emphasis on that one

Finally! it was a great explanation.

simple question, if i was a guy who people(my peers) would never believe i acquired the ability to put some one under hypnotic state , would i be able to practice it on them ? or is a (seeing is believe) kinda thing ?

Thanks

Amazing 😃

Great lecture!!!

U can still move U just have to have a strong mind I found this out because I have been hypnotized

Excellent!!!

The position of the eyes looking up prevents your eyelids opening. Try it yourself. Look up with your eyes closed and try to open them. She was very unbalanced when her foot wouldn’t go up. He put her in a very precise position for a reason.

According to this explanation the patients hypnotized to stay free of pain while the dental operation do not feel the pain because "the hypnotist said so!". all he explained was how a "convincer" works not the hypnosis itself.

Great talk! Thanks!

Some people are more open to suggestion than others.

This is pretty deceptive. What he didn't say is that he's talking about a very technical distinction mainly of interest only to psychologists. For one thing, he's just giving an opinion without support. But even if his definition were true, it doesn't imply that you could achieve the kinds of altered perception and change in subconscious habits without methods that communicate with the subconscious more than ordinary "persuasion" would.

That's fine. However, explain how people have experienced a tooth extraction without pain or distress using only hypnosis as an anaesthetic.

The problem with watching anything magical on video...is that I cannot shake off the feeling that someone is JUST PLAYING ALONG.

Everyone is scared about hipnotism but I am scared of his shadow😧

He is spiting facts

This is the best best explanation i ever heard

love was the actual (too obvious to say? too obvious to avoid.) conclusion, master Ben. ;) Incredible still, Or incredibly still, your skills? ^_^

If his theory were true, and I don't believe that it is, how does it account for indirect-hypnotic-conversational-experiences, experiences in which the subject has no conscious awareness that a hypnotist is cultivating a hypnotic-trance state. As would be the case resulting from simple counselling techniques such as pacing, leading, and verbal reflecting; as that process of feeding back a persons experiential experience can easily result in the cultivation of a hypnotic-trance, enough to encourage an exchange in which the listeners hand might find itself stuck to the listeners leg, or table or chair?

Like how the ouija (sorry idk how to spell it) board works. There is no ghost but because everyone's hand is on the triangle thing in the middle and note that the board is super smooth and slippery. Everyone really wants the board to work and its not intentional but the brain would give uncontrolled twitch or small movements and since almost all of them wants something to happen they will want to expect movement so say if they asked "Are you here?" Most people would want the ghost to say yes. Therefore everyone's uncontrolled twitch and movement plus the slippery surface would make the triangle piece in the middle slowly but surely. Move. Get rekt ghost busters.

I trained with California-based Hypnotherapy Motivation Institute. They instruct us to embrace the idea of "one-up-manship", that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis (and it's fine to share that fact with clients) and to have the heart of a teacher.

I don't get it. With my eyes closed, I look up, and open them with no difficultyy at all. It's not more difficult.

Sir, I enjoyed your talk.