Eli5, Is hypnosis real? How does it work? Is Darren Brown all real or fake?
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Hypnosis is real in the sense that it’s a form of cognitive therapy that can assist with behavioural change and even *some* physiological issues like chronic pain management. It’s similar to meditation in that it helps focus your mind and achieve your goals through willpower, and is little more than convincing yourself to do something. There is debate in the medical community about how effective it is, but it appears to be at least as good as placebo (and some would argue that hypnosis **is** just a specific means to achieve the placebo effect).
Hypnosis is fake in the sense that you can’t say magic words or swing a clock in front of someone to make them sleep, act like a chicken in front of a crowd, rob a bank or cure cancer. “Hypnosis” in stage shows is just people being compliant for entertainment purposes under the influence of social pressure. Hypnosis as a *cure* for medical illness is the realm of scammers and charlatans.
Derren Brown is a mentalist, he claims to be able to read and manipulate people’s thoughts and behaviour with techniques like the power of suggestion, subliminal messaging, cold reading, maths/statistics and occasionally hypnosis. He will often “explain” the techniques he uses to the viewer. While his explanation of the mechanisms used in his shows are based, to an extent, on real science and behavioural psychology (and used in fields like marketing), the extent to which he claims to use them and their reliability is fictional, as are his explanations for how the stunt actually worked; it’s all part of the act.
In reality he is known to use conventional techniques like staging, audience plants, sleight of hand or TV camera tricks in his shows, even when his “explanation” crafts a different narrative. Some people argue deception like this is little different to any other “magic”-type act, especially compared to the likes of Penn & Teller who incorporate a similar style of “peek-behind-the-curtains” meta while still misdirecting the audience with a second layer to the act; others argue the extent to which Brown does it, while outright lying to the audience about his methods when his act is far less sophisticated, makes him a fraud or charlatan.
TL;DR: Hypnosis as a cognitive tool for psychologists akin to meditation is real. Hypnosis as a medical cure, for entertainment or as a form of “mind control” is not. Derren Brown performs tricks that appear supernatural, but gives a pseudo-scientific explanation for them which is also false, whether you think that makes him a fraud or different to other magicians is up to you.
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