tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post5884552350153073702..comments2023-11-02T19:19:15.129+05:30Comments on Death Ends Fun: Try climbing into a hatDilip D'Souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08221707482541503243noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-4772941118403316572008-08-23T18:04:00.000+05:302008-08-23T18:04:00.000+05:30Dilip - Feynman mentions getting the strange feeli...Dilip - Feynman mentions getting the strange feeling only when he tried to disobey the hypnotist, which you didn't try to do.<BR/><BR/>I looked it up and my description is quite accurate. He mentions a later incident: a hypnotist says she will burn his hand with a match and he won't feel pain. She lights the match and asks him to close his eyes; he feels a warm sensation but no pain. He thinks, that's easy, she's just put a different match than the one she lighted. But when he opens his eyes, he sees a burn on his hand. Over a couple of weeks it becomes a blister and finally bursts, and he never feels any pain at all.Rahul Siddharthanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04809667965184094636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-62700906777848086852008-08-23T12:24:00.000+05:302008-08-23T12:24:00.000+05:30Rahul, I'm always delighted to be mentioned in teh...Rahul, I'm always delighted to be mentioned in teh same breath as Feynman! Though our respective contributions to the advancement of science are, shall we say, immeasurably different.<BR/><BR/>What you describe is about how I felt. I don't know that I consciously got that strange feeling, but I just went along with everything. As I wrote, I think the hypnotist's great skill is in identifying those who might not go along with everything, and sending them back into the audience.Dilip D'Souzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08221707482541503243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-24078758719566377962008-08-22T22:16:00.000+05:302008-08-22T22:16:00.000+05:30ditto rahul. ive had friends tell me of ppl holdin...ditto rahul. ive had friends tell me of ppl holding unnatural stiff postures (eg prone btwn chairs) eating hot peppers etc. undergoing moderate to significant discomfort or pain. i dont think they'd consciously go along with that.<BR/><BR/>maybe the hypnotist succeeds in making you think you are in control while you really arent. you want to do what he tells you to do and therefore dont question it.<BR/><BR/>rgds,<BR/>JaiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-13071426446962964602008-08-22T15:28:00.000+05:302008-08-22T15:28:00.000+05:30I remember some such story by Feynman (in "Surely ...I remember some such story by Feynman (in "Surely you're joking", I suppose), who volunteered for a hypnotist session: exactly like you, he was thinking through the session, "I'm not hypnotised, I can do as I like, I'm just playing along". But at the end the hypnotist said "you won't go right back to your seat [in the front row], you will walk all the way around the hall to reach it." Feynman thought to himself, nah, he's not going to play along with that one, it's too silly; and he started walking straight back to his seat. But then a strange feeling came over him: he felt so bothered by it that he couldn't continue. He walked all the way around the hall. He concludes that though you tell yourself "you can do it but you won't", it's really the same as saying "you can't do it."Rahul Siddharthanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04809667965184094636noreply@blogger.com