Chapter 13 - New Theory Of Hypnotism

Now that I have shown you how to hypnotize and what hypnotism is, we should now study some of the operations of the mind in order that we may better understand hypnotism. You have learned that there are two minds: the conscious and subconscious minds. Some psychologists designate them objective and subjective. The terms are immaterial. You have learned some of the functions of both.

Now let us examine the processes of the mind while going under hypnosis and while under. You recall that while inducing hypnosis, you caused the subject to gaze at an object, or close his eyes, or do some simple act, not involving much conscious mental effort; in fact, involving the minimum of mental effort. The thing you asked the subject to do, like gazing at a disc, would not of itself induce hypnosis. Several other things must concur. Some of them are unknown and are in dispute, such as magnetism and mental action of the hypnotist. Some of the things which must concur are known. The subject gazes at an object. His conscious mental reactions are reduced to a minimum. His expectations of hypnosis are increased by every means possible. His natural reactions are seized upon to increase this expectation. His mind is obsessed with one idea—sleep. His mental reactions are urged along one single line. It leads to one single idea— sleep. (I wish to note here that the idea "relax," may be used instead of "sleep.") Now what does all this lead to? It leads to a passive conscious mind just for one single instant, with the sole idea going through to the subconscious mind—sleep—sleep. My theory is not new altogether, but it is new in some details. The whole procedure is to get the conscious mind off guard; to get it passive and then the subconscious mind takes over. The one single idea in it takes effect; and that is—sleep. It is not necessary for the operator to know and understand the operations of the brain to bring about this effect, but knowing these operations will assist him in perfecting His system and to obtain best results.

Now we have it ... hypnosis is induced by any method which will obtain an instant of passivity of the conscious mind; at which instant, the subconscious mind takes over the body functions, enforcing a supreme idea upon the mind and body similar to a trance state, the degree of hypnosis being governed by the extent of the severance of the cortex, which is the seat of the conscious mind, from the control center of the mind. How this is effected will be explained later in a chapter on the structure of the brain and nervous system. This instant of passivity may be obtained by misdirected attention; by bafflement of the conscious mind; by a startling command; or by a disconcerting action; by a confusion of the senses of direction; or of sense of balance; or of sense of sight; or by monotonous sounds. The observations here made have been draw from experience, and from the many works on psychology and hypnotism which I have read.

Apparently, it is the rule of the mind or nervous system that some power must be in control of the body and that if the conscious mind does not exercise that control, the subconscious mind will exercise it. Therefore, the subconscious mind takes over by disconnecting the conscious mind from the switchboard, so to speak, of its authoritative control, leaving the motor centers subject to the control of the voice of the hypnotist. In referring to motor centers, here I mean the brain centers directly activating the muscles and other functions of the body as separated and distinguished from the cerebral cortex centers having to do with volition, ideation, inductive reasoning, etc. In other words, I am not referring to that part of the brain which is the center of the conscious mind; only to those motor centers which are embraced in the areas housing the subconscious mind. I do not intend to split hairs here either, because it is not necessary for my purposes.

Now, let us go on with the reasoning. Instead of the normal ideation centers supplying the stimulus for action, it is supplied by the voices of the hypnotist. These commands are transformed into motor impulses by the proper brain cells and the body executes them just as though they were made by the cortex, the ideation center, in the first instance. After you have witnessed a person in hypnosis, you will understand just what I mean by this statement. In deep hypnosis, every act, every expression, feeling, movement, appears to be done without volition on the part of the subject. All appears to be the result of reflex action. Even those acts which appear to be based on volition while not under hypnosis, appear to be prompted by a reflex action based on the suggestion given.
Here again I could engage in hair-splitting and there will be considerable argument on the point advanced, but I intend to let it pass because I am sure that in the main, my conclusion is correct and that the apparent exceptions can be explained, consistent with my main conclusion. After all, there is nothing startling about this proposition. We see radio waves transformed into words by the radio tubes and the loud speaker. We see electrical waves transformed into a picture by the television set. The brain has been converting light waves into mental pictures and pictures into words and words into actions since the beginning of man's intelligence.

But let us not get confused here. There is no actual picture or word stamped in the brain. What is actually there is a certain recorded stimuli in certain well-ordered nerve cells and series of nerve cells, working in concerted action. Whenever a similar stimuli is applied, it reacts in a similar manner and the proper cells recall the prior stimuli which we associated with the prior picture, scene, person, sound or whatever it is which has been previously experienced. All of this is done in the proper nerve centers and channels of the brain. The remembering of these things is a recall faculty of nerve cells which we call memory. But there is actually no picture or word printed in the brain. This may sound strange and startling to you who first read it, but it is true, nevertheless, regardless of the fact that you may have always believed the contrary fact to be true.

This severance of control mentioned above may be absolute. (For my meaning here, see further on.) In which case, the subject is in the deepest stage of hypnosis. He is helpless. His every move and thought is dictated directly or indirectly by the hypnotist. He cannot move or talk without the orders of the hypnotist. His reasoning and thinking are limited. His volition is gone. His actions are slow, unless speeded up by suggestion. His face is expressionless; free of cares and worries. Whatever emotion is dictated by the hypnotist is depicted there. He shows no feeling, sympathy, or other facial expression, unless dictated by the hypnotist, or is a result of some suggestion calling for such by deductive logic. For an example, the hypnotist tells a subject she is in a rose garden and that she will pick some roses, but be careful of thorns. She will pick roses and will cry out with pain when an imaginary thorn sticks her fingers. This is the result of deductive reasoning and the act is the result of the suggestion by the hypnotist. But here again, let us not get into a hair-splitting game as to what is and is not deductive reasoning. If we do, we will get so involved that my point will be lost. The subject can talk, act, remember, answer questions and reason deductively when his mind is activated by the hypnotist. His power of aggressive action is gone unless suggested. His power of inductive reasoning is gone. Of course, I am discussing a person in deep or medium hypnosis, not one in possession of most of his faculties and in a hypnoidal state. By now, the student should begin to grasp the significance of my reasoning and the logic behind the array of facts presented. He should also begin to discern the difference between real hypnotism and the mental states and reactions erroneously classified by some as hypnotism.

Explanations have been given by hypnotists and psychologists for the phenomenon of the subject's mind turning over its activity to the hypnotist. Some of them seem plausible, but some are ridiculous. They have been accepted because no one had a better explanation. It is my theory that the subconscious mind severs the control centers with the conscious mind (the cortex), but it does not block off hearing or other sensory channels, and the process of reflex activation from such sources is not blocked, unless suggested. The voice of the hypnotist is obeyed because that is the only voice acceptable to the subconscious mind, either through its own suggestion or through suggestion by the hypnotist. Just remember that we are dealing with brain cells which are activated by ideas and where ideas are SUPREME. Paternal instincts, maternal instincts, a desire to be governed by a parent or other folderol, have nothing to do with it. It is just a matter of mental selection of reaction, like lifting your right arm instead of your left; or like kicking with your foot instead of with your hand; or of drinking with your mouth, instead of your nose.

The picture above illustrates the handclasping method. The subject is told to lock her fingers together and to turn her palms outward, extending her arms upward. In this position, it is difficult to pull her fingers apart. She is then told to clasp her fingers tighter and tighter, that they are stuck together, that she cannot pull them apart. Then she is told she is going fast asleep, commanded to close her eyes and given a short sleep formula. Almost any suitable wording will do. The locked fingers have done much of the work toward induction. She is told she cannot pull her fingers apart, no matter how hard she tries; dare her to pull them apart, then relax her and command deeper sleep.

Further Development Of Theory Of Hypnosis

Now you have learned how to hypnotize and why the formula for its induction works. You have learned that hypnotism is a natural reaction caused by certain stimuli activating certain nerve centers in the brain. These nerve centers have been going through training for years to do a certain job; to receive a certain stimuli; to interpret it in a certain manner; to react to it in a certain way; to rely it to certain nerve centers, which have also been trained to react to it in another way, either to inhibit or accelerate the stimuli. Some reactions are inherent, some are acquired. All such centers are trained by frequent use. Such reactions finally become more or less habit reactions, whether they be inherent or acquired.

Let us explain this theory further, because it may be possible that some do not fully understand it. Let us take a simple illustration. A child first sees a red coal of fire on the hearth. He has never experienced this sensation before and he obeys the childish impulse to reach for it. He is burned and quickly draws his hand away. The impulse to reach for it was a natural reaction. The heat caused a natural protective reflex reaction to quickly jerk away his hand. Those reactions were inherent reactions. The next time the child sees a coal of fire, he will draw away from it. That is an acquired reaction. It was acquired through experience.

Now, when the child gets tired, he closes his eyes and goes to sleep. This is a natural reaction and might be classed as strictly reflex. The nerve centers react to the stimuli and his conscious mind is put to rest. As he grows older, he acquires certain ideations as to the proper time to sleep. At first, he sleeps often and at irregular intervals, but as he grows older, he begins to sleep only at night and for certain hours, unless circumstances demand a different procedure. His brain cells are trained to react to a natural stimuli only at certain intervals. He may even train himself to awaken at a certain time. That is to say, he develops a controlling reaction of a natural reaction. This facility we call will power or volition.

As the child grows older, he acquires other reactions through training and by acquiring ideas from others, whose ideas are absorbed by his receptive brain centers. These ideas form inhibitions against certain nerve actions or stimuli, by building up certain nerve stimuli in the brain cells. These inhibitions block certain contrary reactions and also certain favorable reactions or just nullify the reaction. Each ideation creates a stimuli which is registered and preserved in certain brain cells and chains of brain cells. Whenever a certain stimuli is passed along, they block it or accelerate it. Do not ask me why or how this is done. No one knows for sure. It must be accepted as a fact just as electricity is accepted as a scientific fact. These blocking processes or accelerating processes take place at the synapses. If blocked, the stimuli dies out and is not acted upon. If it is not inhibited, it is accelerated by more stimuli and a positive reaction takes place. Now, let us connect the foregoing as well as what I have previously stated in this regard, with the phenomenon of hypnosis. The suggestions of sleep or relaxation have a certain meaning to the suspect. This meaning is converted into stimuli and this stimuli reacts upon certain nerve centers. These nerve centers cause a reaction in the synapses whenever the stimuli is strong enough to overcome the inhibitive forces coming in from the conscious mind. Certain stimuli react to block the total sleep reaction (normal sleep) but cause the state called hypnosis to be induced. There may also be induced different stages or depths of hypnosis, because of the difference in degree of severance of the synapses, and therefore, a difference of the brain facilities involved. This difference in degree of severance may depend on many things, such as the mental attitude of the subject, the facility with which his brain centers respond to stimuli, the force and artistry with which the suggestions are made, the interpretation placed upon them by the subject, the interference from the outside, and many other factors.

Further Development Of Theory Of Mental Reactions Under Hypnosis

For us to better understand how mental reactions in hypnosis bring about the many seemingly miraculous results, it will be necessary to have an explanation of just how mental reactions, ideas, are converted into actions by our bodies. How does a suggestion to throw off a skin like that of an alligator (ichthyosis) become a reality? How is the idea put into action by the body? To answer this question, I have formulated a theory which will solve this age-old puzzle. It is so simple that it is staggering in its simplicity. It will meet with much opposition and perhaps heated argument, but as I have stated before, if anyone has a better theory, let him advance it and prove it. It is time for us to get down to fundamentals instead of just writing pages and pages of empty words.

My theory is this: Every physical action or failure to act is a positive or negative reaction and is a result of the difference in the sum total of the positive and negative mental reactions, such being determined by that total mental reaction which is the stronger. This is the only way we can account for an action or a failure to act after an occasion for acting or not acting has occurred. To give a simple illustration of what I mean, let us use one where a person is invited to have a drink. This invitation calls for a negative or positive reaction. Refusing a drink is negative and accepting it, is positive. If the person is thirsty and the water is acceptable, he will take positive action. But suppose the water is muddy, the dipper filthy, and the man is not thirsty, then he will refuse. This is negative action. In the first instance, the positive ideas outweighed the negative ideas or there were no negative ideas. In the second instance, the negative ideas (we call them inhibitions) outweighed the positive ideas, if any there were, and a negative reaction took place. Now these reactions are the same in principle, whether a long process of reasoning is used to reach a conclusion or a snap decision is made. The process calls for the marshalling of the positive and negative stimuli by the brain cells before any action is taken. Every action is either negative or positive. As we have seen before, ideas are stored in the brain cells. These ideas are negative or positive. A negative idea is represented by a negative charge; a positive idea by a positive charge. These charges are stored in the proper brain cells and may be called forth for action. This is done by reasoning or by impulse. Reasoning is required if the process in arriving at an action is an involved one. Impulse may not involve any reasoning. In either instance, the negative or positive charges are assimilated and the stronger determines the course of action. This theory is not in actual conflict with any theory of mental reaction or nervous reaction which may have been advanced, as far as I know. It is just a more concrete expression of the theory of mental reaction in the light of the recent discoveries of synaptic action in the nervous system. This negative or positive reaction is effectuated at the synapses in the nervous system. It is accomplished by accumulated electrical charges in the axion near the neuron (this appears to be the principal method of reaction) to be excited or depressed, inhibited. In case of inhibition, the anodal current remains strong and depresses the action in the neuron. If action is to be taken, the current is cathodal and excites action in the neuron. Action may be caused by summation at the synapses. This could be the result of reasoning or conflicting desires or reason and desire, or any number of mental reactions.

Now, similar reactions go on in our subconscious mind regulating the actions of our bodies and the chemical and physical reactions of them. We are not conscious of such reactions, but they take place while we are awake or asleep. Even the reactions of our endocrine glands and the production and use of enzymes, genes, vitamins and hormones and other vital processes are regulated by our subconscious. If it fails or misperforms in any detail, our body is thrown out of order. It could happen because of the lack of proper food or other conditions, but I am confining my theory to conditions other than the lack of material things. Such conditions may be the result of things affecting the mental side of the person and be separate and apart from material things. Here is where hypnotism may step in and aid in restoring the equilibrium of the body. The proper suggestion made to one in hypnosis can correct such conditions by reaching the innermost recesses of the mind and starting the normal nerve impulses instead of none, or instead of the wrong one. This explains the miracle cures which were not miracles at all, but just natural results from the restoration of the normal functions of the subconscious mind, which corrected the body functions.

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