Talk:Chicken hypnotism

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My dad used to do this. - Ta bu shi da yu 04:13, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I mention a related matter in passing on my own web site [1], [2] -- Jmabel 03:56, Sep 25, 2004 (UTC)

Are there any citations for the claims that Hellmut Kohl and Al Gore have hypnotized chickens? If this weren't from someone who has made good edits elsewhere, I would suspect vandalism; as it is, I'll tentatively assume the contributor knows what he/she is talking about, but would like to know where the information comes from. -- Jmabel | Talk 01:51, July 27, 2005 (UTC)

Apologies for the lack of clarity; rather than dump all the info here, I have put it into the relevant biogs. Perhaps it should be the other way about? The Helmut Kohl info comes from Stern magazine (13 Sept 1996, so no online ref), and I put it here. The Gore stuff comes from here [3] -- although I couldn't find it yesterday, but have just located it, hurrah. So, I'll hold off on adding it to an article till I get an answer on where you think it ought to go. In case you're wondering, I don't know of any other ex-statesmen who have hypnotised chickens, but that might be because they (rather sensibly, perhaps) keep quiet about it... Garrick92 11:42, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Just added some *more* stuff wot I found. Stop me before I strike again ... Garrick92 12:27, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] cleaned up?

I came to this from the old-articles-needing-cleanup page and threw out everything that looked squirrely, third-hand, and a joke. The article sounded more like a nudge-nudge-wink-wink college newspaper column than an encyclopedia article. Perhaps I went too far removing the Helmut Kohl and Albert Gore stuff, but "famous people have done this, honest" doesn't seem terribly encyclopedia-ic. - DavidWBrooks 17:18, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

  • David's edit. I think that anyone looking up chicken hypnotism would have been interested in plenty of what he removed, but this is pretty low on my priority list, so I'm just leaving a note. -- Jmabel | Talk 21:06, September 3, 2005 (UTC)
    • I agree, but then I would, wouldn't I? I'm also nonplussed by your removal of the Iggy Pop ref. The Gore stuff, I think, also belonged in the article: it quoted Gore himself, and gave an alternate method of hypnotism to the one described. The Kohl one, similarly, came from his sister interviewed in a reputable journal.

Characterising these bits as 'famous people have done this, honest' is narrowminded, petty, and silly. Perhaps you ought to take out the Kircher bit, because that could be 'Famous people have written about this, honest'.

Oh, hang on, is the Iggy Pop bit gone because it comes under 'Famous people have sung about this, honest'?

I honestly despair of the self-appointed Wikipedia Gods. Nuff said.

Garrick92 17:49, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Then, why not replace those parts that you think deserve to be here, generating well-written, cogent summaries which even a grump like me couldn't object to! As I noted, I may have gone too far; imperfection is possible. - DavidWBrooks 18:12, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
I restored the mentions of Kohl and Gore, since I think this topic sounds like an urban legend, and the notable people mentioning how to do it - particularly the link to the Gore story - lend credulity to the article and may reduce the number of people who reject the topic out of hand. Tempshill 21:45, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Crocodile/alligator charming

Isn't there something similar that some people do with these creatures? I think they stroke the belly or something similar. --MacRusgail 18:20, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

I tend to doubt that. Before you can get close enough to do that, you have other things on your mind than that, I guess. Too bad we cant ask Steve Irwin anymore. - Redmess 08:23, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Not Hypnosis

This is NOT hypnosis! It is a case of the chicken feigning death, similar to a turtle moving into its shell, or a deer freezing from a spotlight. Hypnosis is a completely different state of the mind.

If I had time to find sources to cite this, I would. But hopefully some future editor who sees this will take the time out of their day to grab the sources needed to verify what I've just said. Regardless, I am editing the entry to reflect this information, as I know it to be true. — Eric Herboso 16:47, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

I've removed your statement, only because it's so very strong (basically, it says that most people's understanding is in error) that it needs sourcing before we include it. I hope somebody finds a source for the material, though, because it's fascinating. - DavidWBrooks 20:12, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
.:sigh:. Okay, I did a quick search on google for "tonic immobility chicken" and got thousands of hits. The top entry is here, though many others follow. In the article I quoted, some demented researcher proved that chickens are more apt to go into this paralysis if they have lesions. In other words, he beat a bunch of chickens and retested the 'tonic immobility' only to find they stayed in that state for longer periods of time. Which is further evidence that it is just a weak attempt at feigning death when afraid of being killed. As a vegetarian and animal rights activist, I HATE the idea of giving hits to this paper, because the scientist who did the work was quite sick, but since I must give references, here you go. There are many other google hits under 'tonic immobility', as it is called in the literature. If you feel particularly moral today, feel free to find an alternate paper to cite instead. (My friend here says to give the guy some slack, as he was writing in the 70s, but really: can you imagine beating chickens to see if it affects how long they stay still? That's just wrong, no matter what the year is.) (PS: You may also want to link to tonic immobility as well. Happy editing.) — Eric Herboso 22:12, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
I've reinstated the edit, with a reference. — Eric Herboso 15:35, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] tone

Even this article is not a joke, it's written in a style that makes it seem silly. It needs a bit of help in that. Estridaldrea (talk) 19:20, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Great - go ahead! - DavidWBrooks (talk) 21:52, 13 January 2008 (UTC)