Vinaire's Blog

Reference: The Nature of Hypnotism

The secret of hypnotism lies in the compartmentalization of the reality of a person. Broadly, it works as follows:

1. Break down the reality of a person into compartments.

2. Fix the attention of the person at the compartment level.

3. Make irrational items appear rational within the confines of that compartment.

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An example would be as follows.

• People generally go clothed in public. That is rational in most societies.
• People unclothe themselves in the security of their bedroom. That is also rational.
• “Being in public” or “being in bedroom” are two different compartments of reality.
• A person’s reality may be compartmentalized and focused on “being in bedroom.”
• This person, regardless of where he is, feels the security of his bedroom.
• He could then be made to unclothe himself in public easily.

This is an extreme example, and this particular hypnotism may rarely work, but this illustration makes the following point.

By restricting the context of thinking, a person can be made to believe that he is thinking and behaving in a rational manner, whereas it would be irrational in a broader context.

Thus, certain thinking and behavior that is irrational in society can be made to look rational to the person within the confines of a cult. He would never think that he is acting irrationally.

Of course, there are other aspects to hypnotism. It is not only one’s thinking, but also the autonomic nervous system that can be controlled through hypnotism. Unfortunately, this latter aspect gets noticed mostly because it is dramatic.

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