In 1950 a group of hypnotists, led by Dr. Rexford L. North, had an idea to form a national hypnotism member organization. Fifty-six years later that organization comprises over 10,000 members worldwide. I joined the National Guild of Hypnotists in 2004, and in my short five years as a Guild member I’ve met wonderful, passionate professionals who are forwarding the cause of hypnotism every day. Those of us who have more recently joined this community are tremendously fortunate to still have access to professionals who were there when it all started. Their perspective and wisdom from over 50 years of service is a luxury that many of us probably take for granted.
My second time at the fall convention I was sitting in a sofa chair in the hallway between sessions when Ormond McGill walked up to me and said, “You look so comfortable there. How’s your day going?” I still feel like a fool when I think about the fact that all I did was say, “Great. How about you?” and let him walk off. I should have given him my seat and spent some time talking to one of the greats. I should have taken advantage of that great opportunity. I won’t make that mistake again.
I spent some time with Tom Nicoli at the fall convention three years ago. I listened to him talk about how he left thousands of dollars “on the table” by not having his product line more prepared for efficient selling when he got his “Dateline” television appearance. I’ve started a product line of my own, I have an ecommerce site, and if I’m fortunate enough to get a break like Tom got I’ll be more prepared because he shared his experience.
We can learn a lot by listening to the past experience of others, but we also have a responsibility to ourselves and to our profession to look to the future. In addition to consistently exploring ideas and making efforts to advance the practice of hypnotism, we must also consider how the changing technological landscape offers opportunities for the promotion and advancement of our profession. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate, and I think it’s safe to assert that many hypnotists are lagging behind in their understanding and facility with current technology.
Many hypnotists might think, “Paul, hypnotism is not reliant on technology. I practice with people, not machines. It’s a science of the mind, not a technological science.” l am not arguing that technology be incorporated into how you practice with clients from day to day. I am urging my colleagues to think about how technology is affecting the way that knowledge is disseminated around the globe. I’m suggesting that it serves each of us as individual practitioners, and our whole profession, to make a stronger effort to use advancing technology to educate the public about what we do. Technology is changing our culture every day, and we must keep pace with change as it occurs.
Most history books will tell you that the first true all-purpose electronic computer was ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Unveiled in 1946, it weighed 30 tons and was as big as two semi trucks. It could add 5,000 numbers in a second.
Intel co-founder Gordon Moore wrote a paper in 1965 observing that after the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958, the number of transistors that could be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit was doubling approximately every two years. This became known as Moore’s Law. Why does it matter? Because Moore’s Law has been correct for nearly 50 years, now. In fact, the law has been revised to state that the growth is occurring every 18 months, not two years. As the capabilities of electronic devices improve at exponential rates, it increases the usefulness of electronics in just about every segment of the world economy.
Fast-forward from the ENIAC to the Roadrunner. In 2008 the United States became home to the world’s fastest supercomputer with the creation of the Roadrunner. Remember how the ENIAC could add 5,000 numbers per second? Well, the Roadrunner can do a million billion calculations per second. It’s called a petaflop.
So, in roughly the same time that the Guild was founded and has grown to over 10,000 members, the world of technology has seen its first computer and gone from 5,000 calculations per second to a million billion calculations per second. This doesn’t just affect scientists sitting in a laboratory somewhere. People all over the world are benefiting from this growth every day. The expansive use of personal computers is one of the most powerful examples.
In a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation’s CARAVAN poll, three out of four American adults claimed to own a computer. They are not a novelty item anymore. Computers are now woven into the fabric of American culture. As a result, the way that people find and share information is changing at a tremendous rate. Radio, in its traditional format, is practically dead. Television, in its traditional format, is dying. Today it’s all about the internet, gang.
Weblogs allow a person with no formal training as a writer to publish their thoughts and experiences to the masses. You don’t have to worry about getting turned down by a publisher anymore! Social networking sites like SkillWho.com and LinkedIn.com provide a public venue for professionals to showcase their skills and knowledge at no cost. Online television sites like Stickam.com and Ustream.tv allow anyone to host their own online television shows for a worldwide audience for free. Each of you has the opportunity right now to launch a multimedia platform that promotes your practice today, and it doesn’t have to cost you a dollar.
If you want to spend a little money, there are more options. You can purchase your own internet domain for as little as $10 per year and find a service that will host your website for free, or you can pay for hosting and have a higher level of control and customization of your site. Build the appropriate content, and Google and the other search engines will find you and start listing your site when people search for relevant information. Some industry insiders believe that internet search engines have become so powerful that they will make the Yellow Pages obsolete within the next five years. Why pay hundreds, or even thousands of dollars for an ad in the yellow pages when more and more people are going to Google first?
Technology doesn’t just affect the potential growth of your practice; it actually can speed the creation of a knowledge base for our entire profession. No more trips to the library to search through the card stacks finding new books and journal articles. That time has passed. Today you can have access to the National Institutes of Health’s entire database of articles and abstracts on hypnotism and research projects involving hypnosis. Our very own Alberto Torelli keeps a running list of abstracts that you can download to your computer in seconds. Last time I reviewed it, Alberto had collected over 1300 of them. Ron Eslinger maintains a Yahoo! group that allows all of his students to connect with each other to discuss how they practice. The Guild maintains a discussion forum for its members at their website. The number of resources is constantly growing. Are you taking advantage of them? Are you adding to them?
Imagine what it would have been like for Braid, Esdaile, and Reichenbach to dialogue via email, or videoconference via Skype to debate their views on mesmeric energy and what it was really all about. Imagine what it would be like for all of us to watch Erickson speak at a conference without having to be there because it was being broadcast on the internet. Imagine Dave Elman having a blog! How cool would that have been?
We don’t have access to those human resources anymore, but we do still have access today to some really great professionals. We also have the great opportunity to share what we know and what we learn with the next generation of hypnotists, and with the general public, so that we accelerate their understanding of hypnotism as a separate and distinct profession. If each of us makes ourselves more comfortable and capable of using advancing technology to do so, we could greatly advance our profession and help many, many more people in the process.
