Hypnotism - 6 Minute English

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!