
When Mesmerism Came to America - commons-tragedy
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/07/24/a-compelling-power-when-mesmerism-came-to-america/
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dr_dshiv
Mesmer was a technologist, as well. He used Ben Franklin's Glass Armonica to
deepen trances -- and had groups of people hold on to iron bars while
submerged in water baths to fantastic effect (it put people into
transformational states).

The mechanism of mesmerism was disproven by the Ben Franklin committee --
there is no "vital force", akin to a magnetic force, that a mesmerist taps
into. Nevertheless, the Franklin committee didn't dispute the effects of
mesmerism. As a placebo effect, it is a particularly strong one. Placebo
effects often comprise the greater part of accepted medical psychotherapies.
While the esoteric/ magical qualities of mesmerism may make rationalists
shudder, if it worked well (it did) we might still learn from it.

~~~
RangerScience
"Just because it's all in your head doesn't mean it isn't real"

~~~
shanemhansen
As someone who used meditation to reduce opioid usage post surgery, I agree.

If the effect is all in my head but it works, then who cares if it's all in my
head?

