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Beat me to it. 
There are some forum buttons designed to avoid complaining about headaches
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Cheeky blighters arent they Mik and its only Jan 1st 
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It is an open forum Corona so everyone is entitled to make their own contribution to any thread. Some contributions are more interesting than others 
Isn’t hypnosis about handing over power and responsibility to someone else? From what I’m reading here, it is.
Absolutely not. A competent hypnotist only suggests ways for the hypnotees (is that a word?) to find solutions to their own problems. These problems exist in their mind. They will come with a “presenting problem” such as stopping smoking, losing weight, stopping stuttering etc. but they are guided into their own deepest thoughts to discover what the real root cause of their problem is. I hate the word hypnosis. Everyone has their own idea of what it might be. It more often than not has negative connotations thanks to the Derren Browns of this world. I have no idea why people would want to go on stage and cluck like chickens or eat lemons pretending to enjoy it but I am certain they have chosen to do it.
I met a chap once who was convinced he had been abducted by aliens and wanted to know more about it. He went into great detail about all the things that happened until I asked the question “and then what did the Martian do?”. He was immediately “back in the room”. I had been totally incongruent with his story because in his mind the aliens were not Martians. He chose to end that session for good.
I suspect the word that might be better here is ‘ethical’. If a hypnotist can make someone do something through their influence then it looks to me like they’re competent.
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Ethical is definitely a good word but is slightly missing the point.
The hypnotist cannot make a subject do anything that is against the subject’s core principles and beliefs. If he tried to persuade someone to jump off a cliff, he would likely fail. But in a hall full of people he might find one or more people with suicidal tendencies.
The idea that a hypnotist has control over someone’s mind has been carefully cultivated by people like Darren Brown to make it seem as if they have special powers (and get people to pay good money to watch them demonstrate this). The myth probably started in the 19th century with the appearance of the Svengali character of popular fiction.
My first thought was some sort of pervert, potentially
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Yes I think a lot of those ‘entertainers’ were giving high readings on the creepometer.