I was just about to do my best to figure out if hypnosis was worth studying and how.
I trust the judgment around here pretty well. Am I wasting my time, or is this something worth pursuing? If so, what for, and do you have any recommended sources?
I'm somewhat interested in hypnosis, but your blog seems to have the same problem I've encountered in googling the subject or in other blogs about hypnosis; namely, they seem like they have lots of information for someone who already has a basic understanding of how to do it but little information for someone who doesn't know how to do it in the first place. (I only read the 2011 and 2016 posts so far, but I haven't run into a how-to yet.) If I was looking to study driving, information about how cylinders work or edge cases in the automotive law code is good to know and I understand why a driving focused blog would talk about that, but what I have yet to find is something like "put the keys in the ignition (probably located behind the wheel) and turn them until you hear the rumble- that's the engine. Now check if the stick in the centre of the car is positioned next to either the 1 or the D symbols..." Do you have a post (or short series of posts) than have that basic how-to, or do you know of a good place to get that ground knowledge?
At the moment, my hypothesis is either that hypnotists have some less known variation on "a magician never reveals their secrets" and that all capable hypnotists either figured out the basics via independent efforts or studied from someone they met personally who knew how it worked. Given the capabilities ascribed to the skillset that should probably relieve me, but it does make research and dabbling in the subject a tad frustrating.
(An alternate hypothesis is that hypnosis just doesn't work, like telepathy or homeopathy, but at the moment that seems to have a lower probability then the above. Not a very low probability mind, but I've met enough acquaintances who've been hypnotized, read enough confident blogs and boasts of hypnotists, and seen dumber sounding loopholes in the human psyche to be at all sure this doesn't work.)
Anthony Jacquin's book "reality is plastic" is what you're looking for. He also has a few youtube videos that are similar in nature.
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