The Guardian post has been translated into Brazilian Portuguese here:

http://sbhh.org.br/hipnose-atinge-partes-cerebro-os-tomografos-neurocirurgias-nao-conseguem

High hypnotizability is probably a different thing entirely from compliance, and there is a rich psychological research literature contrasting the two. The phenomena of hypnotic suggestibility are most often characterized in terms of “the experience of involuntariness” rather than “obeying commands.” The latter is largely archaic I think.

That is, hypnosis doesn’t mean following orders, it means subjective experience congruent with an expectancy.

The confusion probably comes from stage hypnosis, where compliance and suggestion are deliberately linked through experiences such as dramatic role playing.

People also get confused by so-called “post-hypnotic” phenomena, which because we are unaware of the expectancy, and we see the “hypnosis” end, seems like some sort of mysterious remote control. This is an illusion, because of the way we think about hypnosis and our unawareness of the involuntariness of everyday behavior. The person acting out the suggestion is still effectively in charge in every meaningful sense, at least to the same degree they usually are.

In the article, Vaughn says, “But perhaps even more mysterious is why we have the capacity to be hypnotised at all. As a species, about 10% of the population can have their reality profoundly altered simply by tuning in to suggestions made by someone else – something that is deeply weird when you think about it.

Virtuoso hypnotisability has never been reliably linked to any problems or difficulties and it has been suggested that, on the contrary, it actually reflects a more efficient control of the brain’s attention systems. It could be a side-effect of other benefits, but we still don’t have any good theories. If you have any suggestions, do let me know.”

Easy hypnosis means that it is happening all the time outside the lab. Our daily cultural discourse is a bombardment of suggestions given by resonant authoritarian voices that garner lots of attention. Hypnotization is happening all the time. It is the sticky stuff on memes.

Ten percent is more than enough Virtuosos to change the direction of the herd. Someone wanting to link hypnotizability to behavior problems should look at the foolish acts of mobs, cults, genocide, etc. But over time, our suggestibility has affected more good than bad. The inherited tendency for human hypnosis should be linked to our herding (schooling?) animal ancestors.

When it turned out that it wasn’t a “special state” in the sense originally assumed, and that the brain manifestations of hypnotic phenomena were elusive in those terms, hypnosis became envisioned as “just ordinary psychological processes.”

While probably true, that downplays the experimental value of the unusually fine control over “ordinary psychological processes” like suggestion and expectancy obtained with hypnotic protocols, and the research significance of those ordinary processes to understanding the brain.

“Hypnosis” is still probably a misleading way to think of these suggestibility and expectancy phenomena, but they have certainly shown themselves useful again and again for scientific purposes across various disciplines.