I'm reading this book called "Death by Black Hole" and am at the part where the author is describing what physicists used to believe about the Earth. There used to be a time where people believed the Earth didn't move but the sky moved instead. People would look outside and see the sky and clouds and birds moving and assume that if the Earth was moving, the sky and clouds would be in different locations every time. They also assumed if the Earth was moving we'd feel it. They ALSO assumed that if the Earth was moving that if we jumped up and down (since we aren't in a fixed point), we'd always land in a different spot. Knowing what we know now, these theories have been debunked. So my question is this: Even though we know the Earth moves, if we trance really hard, is it possible we'll ever feel it moving? I KNOW it's possible to hear it cause it's been proven, but can we feel it rotating? Love Isabella xoxooxox

I think if we had the right words to help guide us into strengthening our connection to the earth, we will be able to feel the earth and it's movement. I remember during a trance with you I really felt connected to everything within our universe. The earth, the galaxy, stars. I felt connected to it all and I think it is totally possible to feel this way with hypnosis.

Now that sparks something really interesting. If hypnosis could theoretically invoke a trance that would let a person feel the earth moving, then technically the hypnotist would be responsible for doing appropriate research, right? For instance, I didn't know this until I looked it up... but... if we observe the rotation of the earth from the north pole, it will rotate counter clockwise. If we view the earth from the south pole, it moves clockwise. So it would be rather silly for a hypnotist to tell a person to imagine the earth moving in a specific direction unless we take the time to make sure the subject's vantage point is correct. I *do* think it's possible to be connected to everything. The earth, the universe, planets, trees, etc. I also believe, since I believe there are infinite possibilities, it's also not only possible but PLAUSIBLE that hypnosis could effectively invoke trance to allow a person to feel the actual rotation of the earth. The question then becomes a more philosophical one. If a person can feel the connection of the rotating earth as it is happening, then the person has essentially become "one with" the earth, right? And if that is so, couldn't the person also possibly be responsible for destroying the earth if he or she decided to change the direction of the spinning? Is it a subject worth staying away from or one worth considering?

"For instance, I didn't know this until I looked it up... but... if we observe the rotation of the earth from the north pole, it will rotate counter clockwise. If we view the earth from the south pole, it moves clockwise." This has had me trying to work out what exactly this means for about an hour now and I still haven't really got a handle on it. I have lived in a number of countries in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres and for me the sun always rose in the east and set in the west and its "spin" could be relative depending if I faced south or north. I am thinkling this must something to do with a unique position of being positioned in space directly above the North or South Poles and presumably because I can only face South or North respectively. I do have a feeling I am missing something very simple here. Can anyone enlighten this physics ignoramus? What is ineresting is is that the earth is spinning at ca. 1000mph but we feel it is standing still. Would a trance only be able at best to help a person imagine that he/she could feel the earth move?

My guess is that a hypnotic trance will NOT enable the subject to feel the earth move. First of all, what would the subject feel? When you are sitting on or in anything moving, ie. car, train, airplane, wagon or whatever, you feel changes in motion such as turns, acceleration or deceleration, or bumps, and, if appropriate, ie, if the windows are open, you feel the motion of the air. But if the ride is smooth, as is the earth's motion, you don't feel anything. Secondly, our brains are change detectors. We tend to ignore things that are constant in our environment. Now maybe using hypnosis could change that and it would not be ignored, but I still don't know what a constant, smooth, motion would feel like.

I believe so. I experienced my first earthquake a couple of months ago. There were two different sensations. First was the sensation of two waves moving under my feet, from one direction to another, second almost immediately afterward was the rumble of the walls of the building shaking, almost as if we'd been buzzed by a plane flying too low, or were too close to a plane taking off. But the important part for me was the wave sensation beneath me. If we can feel the wave move, and know the direction of movement - just as we can feel the direction of wave movement in the ocean - then we should be aware of other motion of the earth relative to ourselves. Remember, we are separate from the earth, though we are almost always in contact with her.

It is not so difficult to experience this, but you require a frame of reference. Lay on your back on a clear night watching the slow rotation of the stars. Focus your mind on the fact that "up" is a relative concept, that you are stuck tight with gravity on the surface of a huge sphere of iron and rock. If you can, be aware of your position and orientation on that sphere as it relates to the poles. Focus on how huge the Earth is, and how fast it must be turning for the stars to move like they do. This is probably easier to do the closer you are to the equator, and the further from any well lit cities. It is quite a chilling experience to position yourself in the galaxy like that, it gives me the existential willies every time. You could be hypnotised to focus more acutely on these things, but you really do need the stars as that external frame of reference. Otherwise it's just all in your head when there is a very real phenomena there, just waiting to be experienced.

The sensing of the movement would be a kinesthetic illusion, as far as i can surmise. The detection of motion is often a primarily sight-linked perception, which is why pilots have to be taught to rely on their flight instruments - sensation and sight can easily lead to some unfortunate results. Ask any instrument flight instructor or look at the tragic death of JFK, Jr. for proof.

However, creating the illusion of being able to sense the movement of the earth might be a very interesting experiment - because the earth not only rotates on its axis, but it is also revolving around the sun at a pretty dramatic speed as well ... something like 18.5 miles per second if memory serves... that's pretty high velocity in anybody's book and added to earth's rotational motion, would probably give the effected person a sensation similar to being on a Tilt-a-Whirl ride.....

sub4

"would probably give the effected person a sensation similar to being on a Tilt-a-Whirl ride....."

Okay. I just changed my mind. As I was reading and processing the rest of the thoughts posted here, I was coming to the conclusion it would not be possible to feel the earth's movement through hypnosis, to actually feel it. Of course the mind can be tricked into believing many things about motion. It is true pilots must trust the instruments. Not strictly because they can't see, but because the motion they feel does not match what they see, and the mind is tricked and disoriented.

The other trick is when the sight and motion sensations do match, but are lies. This is how the pilot's flight simulator works to trick his mind into thinking he is accelerating or climbing or descending, etc. It's just a big computerized box moving on hydraulic lifts and showing a video game which matches the movements.

So, hypnosis could certainly be another way to trick the mind, or maybe it would be better said, convince the mind. But what about the real, actual, honest to goodness sensation of movement?

I think it was said what we really feel is the change in motion, whether in direction or velocity. And since we are flying along at a constant speed, what's to feel? Well, back to the midway ride we go.

I'm sure most of us have been on the one- a big circular thing that spins. You stand with your back to it. It spins, pinning you to the side. Then it tips up, but you stay pinned. Okay, without the tipping, just standing there spinning, your body gets used to the motion. Sure, you are pinned to the wall, but close your eyes and the sensation of motion dwindles down to almost nothing. Kinda like our earthly experience. But, but, but, and here's the but, simply cock you head just a wee touch, and all those motion sensations come flooding back. So, as you sit there reading this, just cock you head, and you'll feel the earth move. (I use that same line on women- but I rearrange the words a little :) )

Sorry, I couldn't pass that up. But if cocking your head doesn't not make you feel the earth move, it's because either our internal sensors are not finely tuned enough, or our brain has turned them off. Or at least it discards that information. That's for our own good, because every time I did cock my head on that ride, I would get downright nauseous. So, on the cosmic scale, the changes are imperceptibale(sp?).

But, but, but, and here's my last but, what if, through hypnosis, we could go back and access the disregarded information, and reprocess it through a high-speed rewind of our memory. If we could get ourselves truely and deeply focused on those ultra-tiny-minute changes in direction we experienced this super-gargantuan tilt-a-whirl of ours, indeed, why couldn't we feel the earth move?