Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Rob. 

Sam

And I’m Sam.

Rob

Now, Sam, look into my eyes! You are feeling sleepy! Relax!

Sam

What are you doing, Rob? Trying to hypnotise me?

Rob

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?

Sam

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.

Rob

You mean like those stage magicians who trick people into clucking like a chicken or playing an imaginary violin?

Sam

Yes, some hypnotists make people do silly things for entertainment but hypnotism has real benefits as well – curing phobias, for example.

Rob

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?

Sam

Don’t worry, Rob. I won’t make you cluck like a chicken!

Rob

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:

1. a) Sigmund Freud?,
2. b) Franz Mesmer?, or
3. c) Harry Houdini?

Sam

Well, people who want to quit smoking sometimes use a kind of therapy involving hypnotism, so maybe it’s a) Sigmund Freud!

Rob

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?

Sam

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.

Rob

And listen out for the first thing he mentions:

Prof Amir Raz

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.

Nicola Kelly

In fact, it’s about two things. First, absorption…

Prof Amir Raz

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.

Sam

People often think you can be easily hypnotised if you are suggestible,or easily influenced by others.

Rob

In fact, hypnotism is about two things. Did you hear the first thing, Sam?

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. 

Rob

And getting absorbed can also mean you get sucked into something – become involved in a situation when you do not want to be involved.

Sam

Stage hypnotists often speak in a soothing, gentle ways to help this process of getting someone absorbed or sucked in!

Rob

But according to Professor Raz, there’s a second important part to being hypnotised: attention.

Sam

Listen to the definition of attention Professor Raz gives to BBC World Service programme, The Why Factor:

Prof Amir Raz

The ability to get focused, to concentrate and hone in on particular, select pieces of information to the exclusion of others.

Rob

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.

Sam

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.

Rob

Or it could be some other object, like a moving finger, a pendulum or a swinging watch that some hypnotists use.

Sam

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?

Rob

OK, Sam. I asked you which hypnotist was so famous that his name became used as a verb. And what did you say?

Sam

I guessed it was a) Sigmund Freud.

Rob

It was a good guess – but the correct answer was b) a German doctor called, Franz Mesmer.

Sam

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.

Rob

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.

Sam

Someone who is suggestible is easily influenced by other people.

Rob

When you lose track of time, you become so absorbed with something that you are unaware of time passing.

Sam

And you might get sucked in – become involved in a situation that you don’t want to.

Rob

Hypnotism also depends on concentration and the ability to hone in on something – to give something your full attention…

Sam

…until you’re mesmerised – you have your attention completely fixed so that you cannot think of anything else.

Rob

That’s all for this hypnotic journey. Bye for now!

Sam

Bye bye