The Suggestible Brain

I’m still reading through this book - but I get the vibe that Amir Raz wants to open psychology academia up to interact with more fields - not restrict it. This is a hunch based on some of the authors he’s included in a book he’s an editor on - Hypnosis and Meditation.

Table of Contents

…and a quick guess as to what’s in the chapters from some exploratory reading…

Introduction

1. The magic of suggestion.

Suggestibility, the degree of effectiveness, is measurable. Tests suck. Suggestibility is contextual.

2. The evolution of how and why humans are suggestible.

Suggestibility served an evolutionary purpose - common instinct. Genetics reflect culture. Culture reflects suggestibility.

3. Do honest scientists ever deceive in research?

Yup - scientists use deception in research, although it’s been culled back by ethics boards.

4. Suggestion changes physiology

Suggestions affect homeostasis and involuntary behaviors. Some medical conditions (warts, immune reactions/allergies) as well.

5. Can clinical suggestions heal and cure?

Some symptoms are psychological. This can manifest in things like lactose intolerance and false pregnancy (sometimes…)

6. The reliable science of unreliable, suggestible memories

Narrative changes memory on encoding. False memories are easy to create - deliberately or not. Memories can also be influenced.

7. Do antidepressants “work” through suggestion?

This is mostly a recap of Kirsch’s work - but, yeah, it looks like it from Kirsch’s research. They’re not much better than placebo.

8. A nexus of psychedelics, suggestion, society, and culture.

Misc ideas - narratives shape us.

Introduction

Given context and suggestion - people won’t take your word that you’re performing a trick, they “hear and see what they think is happening.” (They stated this after performing a mentalism trick, clearly described as such, and people would speak with them as if they were gifted or clairvoyant.)

Raz’s credentials - masters in computational neuroscience, CS undergrad, PHD in cognitive psychology. Also a magician.

The book’s stated intention is to use science for change, protect against manipulative misinformation, and to provide tips on self regulation.

Ch1 - The Magic of Suggestion

When performing a mentalism trick, they use the following line…

“Don’t do it just yet because your choice should be completely free and entirely uninfluenced by me.”

Raz, A. (2024). The suggestible brain: The science and magic of how we make up our minds (First edition). Hachette Go, an imprint of Hachette Books.

In the book - they do the trick by producing a spread of five cards. They mention qualities of three of them, mention one of them in passing, and expect the participant to pick the one they said nothing about.

Russian hypnotist story. There’s a Russian hypnotist performing in an English speaking country, and thus they required a translator. The translator, well, translated into English, and the participants felt as if the translator was the one hypnotizing them, rather than the Russian performer. Even the translator felt a bit off about it - they eerily felt as if they were the one doing the hypnosis.

What’s the difference between suggestion and suggestibility?

• Overconfidence leads to underthinking.
• Some social situations make us more amenable to advice (eg - dating.)
• Suggestions have a cumulative and contextual effect.
• Suggestion is influential communication, regardless of the medium.
• Suggestibility indexes the ability/degree to accept/act/experience. They restate that being suggestible is not equivalent with being stupid.
• Guessing the cause/correlates of suggestibility is difficult, and is still being researched.

How do we measure suggestibility?

• (Ugh) - they mention Spiegel’s HIP eyeroll test. While they conclude this doesn’t align with other measurements, they argue for it’s heuristic and functional utility, being short and creating expectation.
• They cite Hilgard in passing mentioning suggestibility is likely a stable trait. (I have beef with that study, if I’m recalling the correct one.)
• They mention administering the HGSHS personally in Singapore - the participants were too polite to report the lack of suggestibility, so the measurements were inaccurate. They assert that scales are imperfect in general because they are still subject to social pressures.

Reminder to self - read “The Cultural Context of Hypnosis” in Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis.

• Initial studies showed little correlation between hypnotic and placebo response. Newer perspectives of placebo have been able to reconcile the differences. (The book does cite references here, and the chapter is well cited in general.)

Suggestible Wine

Personal thought - it may not be purely suggestion that influences the taste of wine, but the expectation and act of savoring. (There might be a controlled study here for someone to do. Or just an excuse to get sloshed.)

• There are top down effects on taste / flavor.
• Some people can get drunk on placebo lime tonics. (Or at least it shaped behavior. Citation 68.)