Could someone else actually take control of your mind through hypnosis, or is that just something movies made up? We get into the real history of hypnosis, starting with Franz Mesmer's animal magnetism theory in the 1770s and the scientific investigation that debunked it, through James Braid coining the term in 1841. You'll also learn what brain imaging research reveals about suggestibility, why medical hypnosis is now used for real pain management, and what psychologists mean by the hidden observer inside your own mind. Whether your free will actually stays intact turns out to depend on a part of your brain nobody talks about.
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