Hypnosis: the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person apparently loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction. To my knowledge there is no definitive proof of hypnosis actually working. However, the concept is quite intriguing. So intriguing in fact, that the famous or infamous author, Edgar Allen Poe, based a short story on that concept.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" opens as dark as any Poe story with the concept of death. The narrator is a hypnotist and has been wondering if life could be preserved beyond death using hypnosis. "Conveniently," his friend, Ernest Valdemar" is on the brink of death and has willingly volunteered to let his dying self become a project of curiosity for the narrator. As soon as Valdemar is put into a hypnotic trance, he says that he is dying, then later that he is currently dead. The narrator leaves Ernest in this state for 7 months. Throughout the 7 month period Valedmar has no pulse nor heartbeat, yet when the narrator decides to ask him questions he responds! Ernest replies in spurs and in a loathsome voice that he is dead, yet he is still speaking. When further pressed with questions, Ernest demands that Valdemar release him from the hypnotic trance upon which Ernest melts into a puddle.
Although this is fiction and is not likely to ever become a reality, there are some interesting aspects to this. For example, this text seeks to explore the idea behind the human mind. As an example, I will take the placebo effect into consideration. During tests and experiments sometimes researchers find volunteers who receive a placebo pill to have the same or better effect than the volunteers who receive the test pill. Just from this alone, I believe the human mind has untapped potential and mysterious ways of making something come true with the belief of it. The same can be applied in the Valdemar story. When under hypnosis, the mind is in a conceptual state of suspension. It is waiting for a response from someone else, yet it can act by itself when asked to. Thus, in this state of suspension, can and is the human absent of the the idea of death? If a human's mind can be controlled and be prompted by another, external individual's will that controlled human also believe they are alive?
Maybe so, maybe not? One thing I am sure of, however, is that leading research can be done in the future regarding the untapped potential of the human mind.
