# Cosentino's hypnotized levitation trick **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335 "2013-11-20T11:13:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/121 "2013-11-23T13:03:14Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > 4 people are less likely to keep a secret than 1. And there’s no need to since magicians use plants all the time. It’s what they do. In this instance, yes. All the time? No. Very rarely. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/122 "2013-11-23T17:08:47Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Do you think Ross Jeffries can’t genuinely attract gorgeous women? I’ve no idea, but I find it doubtful. You apparently do. Why? > [@](#): > > Do you think his assistants and girlfriends are just from his money? (which he’d get from books and seminars) Well, that just could be. Money is a quite well documented way of making this happen - so there’s reason to believe it. > [@](#): > > Why is he so popular if his techniques don’t work? Money. Why not just money? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/123 "2013-11-23T18:05:16Z")
> [@JLRogers](#): > > It’s completely reasonable to dismiss the bizarre claims of PUAs as woo, because in the end all their NLP and other “speed seduction” echnique is a pair of magic slippers: their belief that they will be attractive to women makes them more confident, which in turn makes them more attractive. I don’t want to hijack this thread, but I am one of the resident Defenders of PUA here. The stuff I felt I got from PUA was mostly just good conversational and social advice, and it’s been useful to me for much more than just finding a girlfriend, or getting laid. I don’t doubt that there are idiots in this scene, and certainly there are plenty that are full of shit. But for the most part it’s about guys trying to share advice on how to improve themselves. That’s not woo. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/124 "2013-11-24T01:00:04Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > 4 people are less likely to keep a secret than 1. They could be made to sign confidentiality agreements. And their secret would be much smaller - how to do the teleportation. On the other hand with one actor their secret would be that the application process was a scam. What’s wrong with assuming that confidentiality agreements would work? > [@](#): > > And there’s no need to since magicians use plants all the time. It’s what they do. You keep on ignoring all of my other reasons… e.g. why call it a search for an **assistant** if in fact their role is a volunteer? etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/125 "2013-11-24T01:05:44Z")
“Do you think Ross Jeffries can’t genuinely attract gorgeous women” > [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve no idea, but I find it doubtful. > You apparently do. Why? You find it doubtful that he can genuinely attract gorgeous women?! > [@](#): > > Well, that just could be. Money is a quite well documented way of making this happen - so there’s reason to believe it. > > Money. Why not just money? But money ($3,000-a-head seminars) came with the fame… also with his clients (promises clients: 'You don’t get laid, I don’t get paid) - do you think when he goes “sarging” with them that the girl is aware that Jeffries has a lot of money? If so why would the girl sleep with the student when Jeffries may be richer? > **[Ross Jeffries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Jeffries)** > > Paul Jeffrey Ross (born 1958 or 1959 (age 66–67)), known by the pseudonym Ross Jeffries, is an American author and pick-up artist. > Neil Strauss, in his 2005 book The Game, describes Jeffries as the "godfather" of the modern pick-up artist community. > In 1988, Jeffries started to study seduction. He taught workshops and promoted a collection of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)-based techniques called "speed seduction". His teachings claim to show men how to create the desired emotional state ... Why was there a movie character based on him that used similar techniques to him when you think it is just his money that is involved? Why does he have lots of NLP/hypnotism books that sell well if he can’t “genuinely” attract the women? Surely people would be able to work out that the money is what Jeffries has and that his material allegedly doesn’t work at all… ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/126 "2013-11-24T01:10:38Z")
This is about a geeky guy that transformed due to PUA advice - see the before and after photos: > **[A Girls' Guide to The Game: How to outwit a pick up artist](https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/33706/A-Girls-Guide-to-The-Game-How-to-outwit-a-pick-up-artist)** > > YOU COULD say master pick up artist NEIL STRAUSS spawned a generation of woman-obsessed sex monsters - but that wouldn’t be entirely fair. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/127 "2013-11-24T01:14:28Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Do you think these successful guys are using hypnotism, though, because that is what **JohnClay** is talking about? I think Ross Jeffries is about the only one that relies a lot on techniques similar to hypnosis - I think NLP is a more accurate term. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/128 "2013-11-28T03:18:26Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I think Ross Jeffries is about the only one that relies a lot on techniques similar to hypnosis - I think NLP is a more accurate term. You keep using those initials without any explanation (is everyone supposed to know what you do, or be ‘into’ everything you are?). I finally googled NLP, and discovered three different disciplines and psychological terms. My guess is you mean Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Soooooo… i spent some time reading up on it. It sounds wonderful. Too wonderful, it turns out. [From the (relatively kind) Wikipedia page:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming) > [@](#): > > Reviews of empirical research find that NLP’s core tenets are poorly supported. The balance of scientific evidence reveals NLP to be a largely discredited pseudoscience. > > Scientific reviews show it contains numerous factual errors, and fails to produce the results asserted by proponents. > > According to Devilly (2005), NLP has had a consequent decline in prevalence since the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/129 "2014-01-02T23:48:37Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > In the trick there was one hoop and it was smaller and he went from her feet to her head keeping the hoop straight the whole time. David Copperfield’s trick was very impressive - I guess it could have been done a similar way. > Well hundreds of people applied for the levitation and four were chosen… are you saying that that application process was just a scam? If she was in on it she might need an earpiece to react to his gestures instantly… Only she was in on it. She’s the “forced card”. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/130 "2014-01-02T23:50:41Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > After some more thought I think the woman was a genuine member of the public. Your ability to think isn’t very good. ---
**Author:** ![jibal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jibal/32/7300_2.png) [@jibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jibal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/131 "2014-01-02T23:52:31Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Since my explanation isn’t that hard to achieve Only if there’s a truly magical form of hypnotism like the one you gullibly believe in. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/132 "2014-01-02T23:55:50Z")
Enough already. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/133 "2014-01-03T00:28:26Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Why does he have lots of NLP/hypnotism books that sell well if he can’t “genuinely” attract the women? Surely people would be able to work out that the money is what Jeffries has and that his material allegedly doesn’t work at all… Books like that sell because people _want them to work_, not because they do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335.md?page=6)