People who lack sensitivity will be likely be open to other types of manipulation than those who are sensitive.

You see this in cults. The cult leader will lead some sheep with new-agey talk and others by yelling at them and threatening them. Control is established both ways. But the ways are different.

Marine boot camp and hypnosis in a psychologist’s office are related and lead to a shaping of a person’s mentality but they also have their differences.

All i will say is that it can be very hard for some (notice this caveat) people who develop these abilities to not use them at least occasionally to their own benefit.

Subtle skills can lead to subtle manipulation. Opening yourself up to certain realities makes you vulnerable to those realities.

It can happen. You need psychic self-defense just like physical.

The powers of hypnosis are as Scott Adams has explained. Nice explanation BTW. But Steven is correct, too.

Opening yourself up in qigong, meditation, or hypnosis makes you vulnerable in the process. You’re putting yourself in the hands of someone trained (as Scott Adams says) to notice the slightest details about how you’re reacting to what is being presented. As a neophyte yourself, you’ll likely miss the cues you’re being given in the teaching. That’s part of the process of learning these disciplines. You’re being molded and learning how to mold yourself.

But can the teacher or hypnotist resist using those abilities in unethical ways? Maybe, maybe not. You can be manipulated on a level that you’re not ready to understand. And contrary to what Scott Adams is saying, you aren’t fully in control of the process. He seems to be underestimating that a bit.

Good post.

Let me stop here and give you some facts about hypnosis. It’s widely misunderstood.

We talk of people “going under” hypnosis, or “going to sleep.” Both are misleading. A subject under hypnosis is fully aware of his environment. He’s awake, for all practical purposes, and can ignore any suggestion that might be objectionable. In the history of hypnosis, there’s no reliable record of anyone following a suggestion he thought would be harmful to himself or someone else. The subject doesn’t lose control.

So what does happen?

I describe the state of hypnosis as acquiring a power. The subject has all of his regular faculties operating plus he gains some more, if he has no objection to those new powers. For example, a subject under hypnosis would get a little extra power in one or more of these areas:

1. Extra relaxation
2. Extra imagination
3. Extra focus

Those extra powers don’t sound like much, but they are.

Some people have a problem with the idea of hypnosis because they don’t want someone else having control over them. That’s the wrong way to think of it. A hypnotist is more like a coach, or a tour guide. He shows the subject how to unlock his extra powers. He doesn’t “control” the subject.

What’s in it for the hypnotist? Lots. For one thing, you learn to read body language at a level that borders on psychic. You go beyond the obvious stuff like crossed arms and who is leaning toward whom, and see meaning in everything from skin tone, to breathing, to pupil dilation, and even choice of words. Never lie to a trained hypnotist.

The other super power you get from being a hypnotist is the knowledge of how to weave it into your normal life. You can’t turn people into puppets with hypnosis, but it does tell you how to get in synch with them in a way that they are more likely to trust you and want to have you around. That’s handy in every walk of life. And you can tell if what you’re saying or doing is having a positive or negative impact as you are doing it. That helps a lot too.

But the best super power that hypnosis gives you is a different world view. Nothing in this life makes sense if you assume people are rational most of the time. Hypnosis teaches you how easily people’s memories and impressions can be altered. And it’s not just the gullible people, it’s all of us. It’s humbling. And it’s the most useful skill I’ve ever learned.

So I ask you, who is more vulnerable? Those martial artists who are familiar with hypnosis, or those who are not?

Soft-traing and sensitivity drills come with risk too: we risk being so open and vulnerable that we can be susceptible to hypnotism and false-belief systems. That’s part of what Mr. Brown demonstrates.

It’s something to keep in mind.