Hypnosis (Prompt #7)

   There is a hypnosis trick for many, and I mean many different problems one could have. The sheer number of results that appear when I type "hypnosis" into the youtube search bar is astounding. Everything from severe depression to insomnia can be cured by watching an hour long youtube video, and those are just the common ones. I attempted an 8:33 second video that was trying to get me to mute my own voice for an hour. (Video can be found here.) 

   My findings were disappointing. I have of course heard the stigmas in the past about hypnotism. "You can't do anything that goes against your morals." "You have to have an open mind to the possibility that it can work." I consider myself a fairly open minded guy, and I have known hypnotism to work in the past, so as for the reason it did not work on me: perhaps youtube videos are not an acceptable hypnotism medium; perhaps the video I chose was too short. I reviewed many of the comments on the video and it seemed to be a mixed bag of people saying that it worked for them or it did not work at all. 

   As this was my first ever attempt at being hypnotized I am not confident that I learned anything. For this study to have any semblance of a scientific study, more research should be done in a more controlled environment. All that being said, there were aspects of the video that seemed to almost work. He attempted to have me fall asleep, I never did. However, I did find that I had no desire whatsoever to open my eyes. He also asked me to say my name over and over again and i would find that it got quieter every time till it was just me mouthing my name. This aspect actually worked extremely well. It happened exactly as he said that it would. 

   I did have a bit of fun with this, I needed a bit of a break and it was a nice way to relax. I would recommend this to anyone that asked. If not for the psychological study, then at least for some alternative entertainment. More on this, probably.

C.F.