Regarding your comments of a day or two ago:
>Not unrelated, perhaps, to the question of getting persons "under hypnosis"
>to commit criminal or irrational acts? The context in whch the voices are
>heard (or the context presented "under hypnosis" - see Richard Condon, "The
>Manchurian Candidate") must affect the construing thereof. If obeying the
>command will invalidate core constructs then it is less likely to be obeyed,
>if not, then obedience is more likely?
I don't really know anything about hypnosis, but suggesting a connection
with halluciantions is an interesting proposition. I suspect a major
difference between the experience of hallucinating and hypnosis is the level
of consciousness.
>Peripheral, but entertaining at the time: an elderly friend who had been a
>wireless operator/air gunner in the RAF pre-WWII used to wind his wife up by
>saying he was getting messages in Morse Code from their (old and rattly)
>refrigerator. At least, we think he was winding her up ... How could we
>have told?
Did he or did he not get messages from the fridge? Who knows? Certainly it
is not uncommon for persons with psychotic symptoms to refer to hearing
messages from the TV or radio, or to hear one's thought being broadcast on
the radio. Did your friend ever elaborate as to what these messages were/
were they distressing to him?. Did he ever discuss these messages when his
wife wasn't there and why did she get so upset at him talking about these
messages? If your friend was 'really' receiving such messages I would expect
he would have other unusual behaviour. In the absence of any other
behaviour or information, who knows?
In terms of your most recent post I thought it was very useful your
beginning to put the discussion in 'theoretical' terms and pose research
questions.
As for your "psychosis", I would say the range of human experience is very
wide. They sound intriguing, but that's all I would say.
Regards,
Bob
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%