Capsaicin sounds nice in principle. The problem is that most people don’t know what a specific amount of capsaicin would do to a person. What kind of dose would you propose? Both that the dose isn’t so high to deal real damage but at the same time that skeptics are convinced that the dose is high enough?
Well, it takes a hell of a lot more capsaicin to do lasting damage to someone than it does to cause fairly intolerable pain. If I wanted to demonstrate that I was impervious to pain, I would probably get some Sixteen Million Reserve, and dissolve it in front of an audience at, say, a 1:10 solution. Then I’d split that into two vessels, and dilute one of them a further ten times, and have a panel of other people willing to take the challenge insert swabs into that, and stick them up their noses. Let the audience see what it does to them. Then do the same myself, with the ten times more concentrated solution. Let them see that regardless of what inflammation occurs, I show no signs of pain.
I’d sooner use the Active Denial System though. Once you’ve subjected yourself to a dose of capsaicin, there’s pretty much nothing you can do but bear it, regardless of how stoic you may or may not be. But an Active Denial System will send people running in seconds. If I could stand blithely in front of one while a whole crowd of people was dropping everything to get away, that would be a pretty compelling demonstration.
Do you really think that a skeptic would be willing to bet a lot of money on this? It’s not like you are demonstrating telekinesis.
Shop around for one who will. I’d look up someone high profile like James Randi and ask “do you believe I could do this? Are you willing to bet I can’t?” If you can get enough skeptics admitting they do believe you can do it, it’s good publicity to capitalize on.
Let them see that regardless of what inflammation occurs, I show no signs of pain.
I think it would be likely that inflammation would also be reduced.
I’d sooner use the Active Denial System though. Once you’ve subjected yourself to a dose of capsaicin, there’s pretty much nothing you can do but bear it, regardless of how stoic you may or may not be.
Basically you would do it because you aren’t confident that you could eliminate the pain. I don’t think that someone who would go into an experiment like this would have that concern.
On the other hand it would make it hard to recruit the people in the audience who are supposed to test the diluted version if they will feel intolerable pain for half an hour. It would also make it hard to get ethics approval if you want to get published.
As far as the Active Denial System goes, it’s expensive equipment. That means it will be hard to test the conditions of the experiment before you run the actual experiment.
I have never heared of the technology before. This means you would have to explain it. That explanation adds complexity to the whole story that’s not good for PR purposes.
I also wouldn’t want to do a public promotion of the Active Denial System.
I’d look up someone high profile like James Randi and ask “do you believe I could do this?
I don’t think that the experiment fulfills Randi’s criteria’s of paranormal phenomena. Randi also doesn’t take challenges anymore from people who aren’t noteworthy to begin with.
There is sufcient evidence, of sufcient quality, for a number of high-quality review
studies to have concluded that hypnosis has demonstrable efcacy in the treatment of pain.
A study like that might not be enough to convince a skeptic that you can do major surgery under hypnosis. When looking at something like your capsaicin example or the Active Denial System I’m not sure that you can convience people that those produce enough pain to make a profound impression that would warrent decent bets and PR.
Basically you would do it because you aren’t confident that you could eliminate the pain. I don’t think that someone who would go into an experiment like this would have that concern.
On the other hand it would make it hard to recruit the people in the audience who are supposed to test the diluted version if they will feel intolerable pain for half an hour. It would also make it hard to get ethics approval if you want to get published.
I would go up on stage and stick a capsaicin swab up my nose, outside the hypothetical where I have the ability to eliminate pain through self hypnosis. I don’t think it would be that hard to find other people who’d do it. It’ll be the same sort of demographic who eats food that’s spicy enough that you get your picture up on a wall of fame if you finish it.
Getting published isn’t really a concern at all. I wouldn’t care about whether I was getting into research journals, just whether I was convincing as much of the population as I could of what I was capable of.
As far as the Active Denial System goes, it’s expensive equipment. That means it will be hard to test the conditions of the experiment before you run the actual experiment. I have never heared of the technology before. This means you would have to explain it. That explanation adds complexity to the whole story that’s not good for PR purposes. I also wouldn’t want to do a public promotion of the Active Denial System.
You don’t need to explain anything beyond “this thing shoots beams that hurt like hell.” Get a big enough crowd, and there are always going to be a few tough guys or suckers for punishment who’ll volunteer to subject themselves to it. The important thing is not that the crowd knows how it works, but that they get a sense of how much it hurts.
Considering nobody has yet managed to stand for over five seconds in the beam of an Active Denial System, I think it would be sufficient to make a profound impression on anyone who witnesses a demonstration.
I don’t think that the experiment fulfills Randi’s criteria’s of paranormal phenomena. Randi also doesn’t take challenges anymore from people who aren’t noteworthy to begin with.
He used to until relatively recently. If I wanted his stamp of approval these days, I’d work my way up from lower profile figures until I reached a point where he would have to either test me or openly admit that he didn’t doubt my ability.
Well, it takes a hell of a lot more capsaicin to do lasting damage to someone than it does to cause fairly intolerable pain. If I wanted to demonstrate that I was impervious to pain, I would probably get some Sixteen Million Reserve, and dissolve it in front of an audience at, say, a 1:10 solution. Then I’d split that into two vessels, and dilute one of them a further ten times, and have a panel of other people willing to take the challenge insert swabs into that, and stick them up their noses. Let the audience see what it does to them. Then do the same myself, with the ten times more concentrated solution. Let them see that regardless of what inflammation occurs, I show no signs of pain.
I’d sooner use the Active Denial System though. Once you’ve subjected yourself to a dose of capsaicin, there’s pretty much nothing you can do but bear it, regardless of how stoic you may or may not be. But an Active Denial System will send people running in seconds. If I could stand blithely in front of one while a whole crowd of people was dropping everything to get away, that would be a pretty compelling demonstration.
Shop around for one who will. I’d look up someone high profile like James Randi and ask “do you believe I could do this? Are you willing to bet I can’t?” If you can get enough skeptics admitting they do believe you can do it, it’s good publicity to capitalize on.
I think it would be likely that inflammation would also be reduced.
Basically you would do it because you aren’t confident that you could eliminate the pain. I don’t think that someone who would go into an experiment like this would have that concern.
On the other hand it would make it hard to recruit the people in the audience who are supposed to test the diluted version if they will feel intolerable pain for half an hour. It would also make it hard to get ethics approval if you want to get published.
As far as the Active Denial System goes, it’s expensive equipment. That means it will be hard to test the conditions of the experiment before you run the actual experiment. I have never heared of the technology before. This means you would have to explain it. That explanation adds complexity to the whole story that’s not good for PR purposes. I also wouldn’t want to do a public promotion of the Active Denial System.
I don’t think that the experiment fulfills Randi’s criteria’s of paranormal phenomena. Randi also doesn’t take challenges anymore from people who aren’t noteworthy to begin with.
Before betting decent money I would guess that a skeptic would read the literature and papers like “A systematic meta-review of hypnosis as an empirically supported treatment for pain by Russell MF Hawkins” which conclude:
A study like that might not be enough to convince a skeptic that you can do major surgery under hypnosis. When looking at something like your capsaicin example or the Active Denial System I’m not sure that you can convience people that those produce enough pain to make a profound impression that would warrent decent bets and PR.
I would go up on stage and stick a capsaicin swab up my nose, outside the hypothetical where I have the ability to eliminate pain through self hypnosis. I don’t think it would be that hard to find other people who’d do it. It’ll be the same sort of demographic who eats food that’s spicy enough that you get your picture up on a wall of fame if you finish it.
Getting published isn’t really a concern at all. I wouldn’t care about whether I was getting into research journals, just whether I was convincing as much of the population as I could of what I was capable of.
You don’t need to explain anything beyond “this thing shoots beams that hurt like hell.” Get a big enough crowd, and there are always going to be a few tough guys or suckers for punishment who’ll volunteer to subject themselves to it. The important thing is not that the crowd knows how it works, but that they get a sense of how much it hurts.
Considering nobody has yet managed to stand for over five seconds in the beam of an Active Denial System, I think it would be sufficient to make a profound impression on anyone who witnesses a demonstration.
He used to until relatively recently. If I wanted his stamp of approval these days, I’d work my way up from lower profile figures until I reached a point where he would have to either test me or openly admit that he didn’t doubt my ability.