Consciousness, Hypnosis, and Free Will
Edoardo Casiglia interviewed by Marcel Kuijsten, in Marcel Kuijsten (ed.), Conversations on Consciousness and the Bicameral Mind (Julian Jaynes Society, 2022).
Summary: Edoardo Casiglia interviewed by Marcel Kuijsten on his research into Julian Jaynes’s theory, hypnosis as a vestige of the bicameral mind, and the nature of free will.
Excerpt: Marcel Kuijsten: Can you tell us about your background and how you became interested in medicine and hypnosis?
Edoardo Casiglia: I have always been attracted by hypnotism, since I was a kid, but I would never have become a graduate and professional researcher in the field of hypnosis if I hadn’t encountered Julian Jaynes’s work. I had a serious approach to hypnosis when I was in high school, reading many books on the subject. However, they were unable to explain what hypnosis was or why hypnosis works — it was a mystery. In the meantime, I became interested in depth psychology, which I explored further during my studies at the Medical Faculty of the University of Padua (Italy). After I became a medical doctor and specialized first in cardiology, then in pharmacology, and again in anesthesia and intensive care, my interest in hypnosis grew to the point that I felt the need to formalize it. …