Hello. This is 6 Minute
English from BBC Learning
English. I'm Rob.
And I'm Sam.
Now, Sam, look into my
eyes! You are feeling
sleepy! Relax!
What are you doing, Rob?
Trying to hypnotise me?
Well, since hypnotism is
the topic of this programme,
I thought I'd give it a try! So
how do you feel, Sam?
Are you under my spell?
Hmmm, I don't think so, Rob.
It's not so easy to put me into
a hypnotic trance - that's the
word to describe the state of
mind of someone who's been
hypnotised and isn't
completely in control.
You mean like those stage
magicians who trick people
into clucking like a chicken
or playing an imaginary violin?
Yes, some hypnotists make
people do silly things for
entertainment but hypnotism
has real benefits as
well - curing phobias,
for example.
Maybe so, but for other people
the very idea of a hypnotic
trance is nonsense. And even if
hypnotism is real, why would you
let a complete stranger
inside your head?
Don't worry, Rob. I won't
make you cluck like a chicken!
Please don't! At least, not
before my quiz question,
which is about a well-known
20th century hypnotist.
One of the first Europeans
to hypnotise people, this
man became so famous that
his name is forever associated
with hypnotic trances - but
who was he? Was it:
a) Sigmund Freud?,
b) Franz Mesmer?, or
c) Harry Houdini?
Well, people who want to
quit smoking sometimes use
a kind of therapy involving
hypnotism, so maybe it's
a) Sigmund Freud!
OK, we'll find out if that's right
at the end of the programme.
One question that's often
asked is whether anyone can
be hypnotised - or are there
people, maybe like you, Sam,
who are less hypnotisable
than others?
Professor Amir Raz is a
psychiatrist at The Brain
Institute in Orange County,
California. According to him,
there are two things which
explain what makes one
person more or less
hypnotisable than another,
as he told BBC World
Service programme,
The Why Factor.
And listen out for the
first thing he mentions:
Initially people thought
that if you're very intelligent
you're likely to be less
suggestible; if you are male
you're likely to be less
suggestible than if you're
female; and so on. These
have been largely dismissed.
In fact, it's about two things.
First, absorption.
Your ability to get engrossed
in a particular activity - we
all know people who are
capable of reading a book
and losing track of time, we
know the same thing about
people who are watching
a film and beginning to cry,
having all these emotional
reactions, again getting very
much sucked into the
scene and being riveted.
People often think you
can be easily hypnotised
if you are suggestible, or
easily influenced by others.
In fact, hypnotism is
about two things. Did
you hear the first thing, Sam?
Yes - it's getting absorbed;
so absorbed that you lose
track of time - become so
occupied with something
that you are unaware of
the passing time.
And getting absorbed
can also mean you get
sucked into something -
become involved in a
situation when you do
not want to be involved.
Stage hypnotists often
speak in a soothing, gentle
ways to help this process
of getting someone
absorbed or sucked in!
But according to Professor
Raz, there's a second
important part to
being hypnotised: attention.
Listen to the definition
of attention Professor
Raz gives to BBC World
Service programme,
The Why Factor:
The ability to get
focused, to concentrate
and hone in on
particular, select pieces
of information to the
exclusion of others.
Besides the relaxed,
dream-like feeling of
being absorbed, what's
also needed is the
concentration to
hone in on something,
in other words, to give
it your full attention.
What you hone in on
could be the way the
hypnotist speaks, like
how Rob said, 'Look into
my eyes!' at the beginning
of the programme.
Or it could be some
other object, like a
moving finger, a
pendulum or a swinging
watch that some
hypnotists use.
Well, I don't feel
hypnotised, Rob, but
I'm certainly focused
on one thing - my lunch!
So come on, tell me -
what's the correct answer
to the quiz question?
OK, Sam. I asked you
which hypnotist was
so famous that his name
became used as a verb.
And what did you say?
I guessed it was
a) Sigmund Freud.
It was a good guess -
but the correct answer
was b) a German doctor
called, Franz Mesmer.
Of course! And the
word named after him
was mesmerised - to
have your attention
completely fixed so
that you can't
think of anything else.
Well, that might be a
problem if you want to
remember this vocabulary,
so let's recap the words
we've learned, starting
with trance - a state of
consciousness in which
you are not completely
aware or in control.
Someone who is
suggestible is easily
influenced by other people.
When you lose track of time,
you become so absorbed
with something that you
are unaware of time passing.
And you might get sucked in -
become involved in a
situation that you
don't want to.
Hypnotism also depends
on concentration and the
ability to hone in on
something - to give
something your full attention...
, ...until you're mesmerised - you
have your attention completely
fixed so that you cannot
think of anything else.
That's all for this hypnotic
journey. Bye for now!
Bye bye!