GenesForLife wrote:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/hypnotist-puts-himself-trance-surgeon-2232873
Looks like there have been recent recorded incidents of people having major surgery without general anaesthetic.
Just because he doesn't get general anesthetic, doesn't mean he doesn't get local anesthetic.
Possible explanations (some taken from Derren Brown's
Trick of The Mind) : a) these procedures usually use local anesthetic and since all/most of the nerve endings is on the skin, there is not much pain to be felt. b) pain seems to be amplified by anticipating it, so having the right mindset (calm or distracted, probably) minimizes (or at least doesn't worsen) pain. Sometimes, it's possible to not feel zero pain. There are reports of painless (or even orgasmic) childbirths. I have experienced the
occasional painless injections, even as I felt the needle going inside me. Once, I cut myself requiring several stitches. I only know that I cut myself after people pointed out I was bleeding. c) people who refuse local anesthetic usually have a high tolerance for pain anyway. Even this patient admits it, "I'm not averse to anaesthetic - it's just that my pain control is a hell of a lot better than the medical profession's..."
In the end, you have to wonder: What does it mean to be in "a trance"? How is that any difference from normal waking states? If it is possible to feel little to no pain without having to be in "a trance", why is hypnotism even necessary? Derren Brown himself isn't sure how trance works or that it even exists in the first place, even though like most entertainer hypnotists he sure knows how to monetize this.