And it occurs in Charles James Portis's novel Norwood, which is worth reading for many reasons...
Chicken Hypnotism
41–49 of 49 posts
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#42More generally
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#43By far the best part of the article: > The United States military when trying to avoid divulging information gives reporters briefings with 25 minutes of intentionally dull PowerPoint presentations and 5 minutes left at the end for questions from anyone who is still awake. The presentations are called hypnotizing chickens.
Wow.
When I worked at a startup, I had a boss who was a really nice guy, friend with the CEO, but very much in over his head. He had been a DBA who -- literally & by his own words -- had read a 24 hour book on Java and that was the extend of his knowledge. This was early 2000s so crazy, but not that crazy.
When I needed his blessing my approach was to start with the details, wait until I visibly see him start to tune out, start looking around the room out of boredom, then ask for permission on what I needed.
I never got a no. He was so happy for the meeting to be over he never disagreed. (And these were usually 10 minute tops.)
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't real hypnosis. It is the brain being hit with unusual or overwhelming stimulus and is basically blue-screening, locking up the entire system until something kicks it out of the loop and causes a reboot. Similar things happen to sharks if you put them upside down, or to deer caught in headlights at night. Unable to process what is happening, their brains just lock up. Drawing the line probably forces the chic…
It is definitely real hypnosis. The definition of hypnosis is so vague and nebulous that this absolutely falls within the umbrella of “hypnosis.” To be specific it is visual hypnosis.
as a child I always thought hypnosis implied a state in which you can program a person to 1) do things 2) even if they are against their own interest, 3) immediately or at a later time, without them remembering 4) the cause being hypnosis, or 5) anything about the period under hypnosis, or 6) to recall information that is inaccessible to the unhypnotised brain...
over time I have seen the claim being totally watered down to apparently just intimidating a creature with primal fear for fun and profit.
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#45This is why I always click Wikipedia articles linked on HN. Gold.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the way chickens use their eyes too. They're unable to move their eyes to account for movement so they instead repeatedly move their head once their body has moved more than a threshold amount, resulting in the typical strutting motion of their head.
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is definitely real hypnosis. The definition of hypnosis is so vague and nebulous that this absolutely falls within the umbrella of “hypnosis.” To be specific it is visual hypnosis.
as a child I always thought hypnosis implied a state in which you can program a person to 1) do things 2) even if they are against their own interest, 3) immediately or at a later time, without them remembering 4) the cause being hypnosis, or 5) anything about the period under hypnosis, or 6) to recall information that is inaccessible to the unhypnotised brain... over time I have seen the claim being totally watered…
All those claims are proven to be incorrect. Not even the best hypnotist in the world can hypnotize someone into doing something against their will.
I agree “intimidating a creature with primal fear for fun and profit” is not that cool.
But the claims you once believed were never true in the first place.
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#47By far the best part of the article: > The United States military when trying to avoid divulging information gives reporters briefings with 25 minutes of intentionally dull PowerPoint presentations and 5 minutes left at the end for questions from anyone who is still awake. The presentations are called hypnotizing chickens.
I suspect this is the principle behind all privacy policies, except there is no time for questions.
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
as a child I always thought hypnosis implied a state in which you can program a person to 1) do things 2) even if they are against their own interest, 3) immediately or at a later time, without them remembering 4) the cause being hypnosis, or 5) anything about the period under hypnosis, or 6) to recall information that is inaccessible to the unhypnotised brain... over time I have seen the claim being totally watered…
All those claims are proven to be incorrect. Not even the best hypnotist in the world can hypnotize someone into doing something against their will. I agree “intimidating a creature with primal fear for fun and profit” is not that cool. But the claims you once believed were never true in the first place.
I never believed in hypnosis, what changed was my understanding of what people actually claimed hypnosis could do, and this change was the only constant thing about hypnosis. My father (an engineer) was down-to-earth enough to explain me math, physics, chemistry, ...
I do believe though in the somewhat debilitating conditions that exacerbate for a person who is already tired, like seeing repetitive long period highway lights, or road markings ... and of course innate primordial fears and reflexes...
Re: Chicken Hypnotism
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
All those claims are proven to be incorrect. Not even the best hypnotist in the world can hypnotize someone into doing something against their will. I agree “intimidating a creature with primal fear for fun and profit” is not that cool. But the claims you once believed were never true in the first place.
I never believed in hypnosis, what changed was my understanding of what people actually claimed hypnosis could do, and this change was the only constant thing about hypnosis. My father (an engineer) was down-to-earth enough to explain me math, physics, chemistry, ... I do believe though in the somewhat debilitating conditions that exacerbate for a person who is already tired, like seeing repetitive long period highwa…
Hypnosis is real. No question. Learn it for yourself and you’ll simply be astonished what you can accomplish.
However, in many ways hypnosis is synonymous with “learning.” Your father hypnotized you into learning math, physics, and chemistry... as do all effective teachers.