Talk:Suggestion

This page originally consisted of a fairly dated Encyclopedia Britannica entry. I've added a little more, and plan to continue, with the aim of linking suggestion much more substantially with the entry for hypnosis. They are very much two sides to the same coin; the process of hypnosis consists of responses to a combination of intstructions and suggestions. Separation of hypnosis and suggestion allows for a deeper understanding of classic debate between 'state' and 'nonstate' perspectives of hypnosis, allowing for research of non-hypnotic suggestibility. I'm aiming to keep the entry firmly based in the scientific literature which has a lot to say about. I have a feeling (hope) it will be easier to keep the psychobabble out of the suggestion entry than for hypnosis. (MWhalley 01:06, 31 January 2006 (UTC))

“Modern scientific study of hypnosis” does not accept “trance” as “essential factor”

The text states that “Modern scientific study of hypnosis, which follows the pattern of Hull's work, separates two essential factors: "trance" and suggestion”. After reading the excellent and nuanced article on Hypnosis, one finds that there is no consensus at all between scientists that a specific hypnotic state (“trance”) exists in the first place, this is the central theoretical disagreement regarding hypnosis ( "state versus nonstate" debate). Also it is suggested that if it exists at all, state has a rather limited effect on the outcome. That “suggestion” is the only other “essential factor” is also subject to debate, some modern theories of hypnosis would say otherwise. --2.109.65.174 (talk) 10:46, 4 January 2022 (UTC)