Hypnotic Enigma

I'm fond of asserting that I'm the most skeptical person you'll ever meet. One of the things I don't believe in is hypnosis. My dad used to tell a story about a U.S. soldier who'd been hypnotized as a prisoner of war. Back in this country after his release he happened to glimpse the Washington Monument while touring D.C. and immediately opened the door to his vehicle and jumped out of the car in traffic. Stories like this are too fantastic for me, but I wanted to get a closer examination so yesterday I went to the Puyallup Fair and watched, for the first time, a hypnosis show. The Hypno~Chick selected about 14 volunteers from the audience and chanted them to sleep. One young guy in the middle of the group seemed especially eager to relax and we worried he might sprawl out on the floor. Throughout the show he demonstrated the most enthusiasm for jumping through the hoops prescribed by the host... and if there were a planted participant I would suspect him, but I don't see how plants would be a successful ploy inasmuch as there's nothing to stop me from going to all 28 or so presentations to see if he's on the stage on a regular basis in which case the scam would too easily be exposed. More likely he merely craves attention and has discovered that he can be a star for a few minutes if he makes more of a fool of himself than anyone else.

One thing that made me even more incredulous than usual was when she told this elderly fellow that when he looked at the audience he would see that none of us were wearing clothes... I guess he pretended to be shocked or enamored depending on who he was looking at, but I really can't imagine that hypnosis can make you visualize things that aren't really there (or in this case... things aren't there that really are). Could he be induced to see something specific like the Holy Grail even though no one really knows what it looks like?

The Hypno~Chick ostensibly convinced the guys on the stage that they were wearing nothing but Star Wars underwear and the girls that their belly buttons were falling off. She had one fellow run into the audience to passionately and romantically make out with his wife. She had them all shaking as though there were an earthquake and then later performing like bodybuilding contestants at which time all the guys (except the elderly fellow) obeyed her instructions to remove their shirts.

Perhaps the most interesting trick was when she removed the number 7 from their minds and then told them they could win a Lamborghini by correctly filling in the blank of the movie title, Snow White and the ______ Dwarfs. The old fellow said Snow White and the Little People Dwarfs. Hypno~Chick tried to make it easier and asked, "What is four plus three?" Immediately one volunteer insisted the answer is four to three. Others adamently pushed for 12 or 13 even while counting on their fingers. I guess what makes this part so intriguing to me is that it seems like it would be easy during their clamoring to accidentally blurt out the actual number 7, but no one did.

I had a great time and felt lucky to hang out with an exceptionally fun young lady from work, but in the end my research on hypnosis remains inconclusive. I believe the only way to figure out if there's anything to it, is to be one of the volunteers. Needless to say I'll win the bodybuilding contest.