HYPNOSIS: The Wakeful Sleep

It should be possible to talk about hypnosis without getting into ESP, but Kettelkamp's historical survey emphasizes apparent telepathic feats by hypnotic subjects, later chapters wax credulous about clairvoyance and ""artificial reincarnation"" in which subjects remember past lives, and this ends with the claim that ""researchers today,"" unlike mechanistic scientists of the past, view consciousness as creating the physical universe. Then too, experiments point to an electrically measurable vital force that brings us back to Mesmer. And if that's not enough, the natural powers of hypnosis are just as marvelous--suggestion alone inducing subjects to design dresses, solve calculus problems and become gifted artists. But it's unlikely that Kettelkamp's simple instructions will live up to his claims for self suggestion, which can drain off tension, change pulse rate and body temperature, or turn the shy into public speakers. (No doubt it can, but not without some practice and direction unavailable here.) To be sure, his Mickey Mouse exercises are probably harmless in terms of the experimentation they will prompt, but as a model of disinterested investigating this ranks with TV commercials.