My mom used to say things like, “A watched pot never boils.” Little did I realize then that what she said and what she meant required me to make some assumptions.
Our verbal and written language occasionally fails to communicate my intended meaning. Yet pertinent information might remain hidden from reason. When left out of the vital communication link, these precious truths are replaced with assumption that becomes the basis for subsequent assumptions.
I get it – expectation improves outcome probability. What I don’t get is why so often I do NOT get what I expect!!!
I’m sitting down right now. I intend to get up and go into the kitchen. When I get up out of my chair, I expect to simply stand up and carry out my intention. Were I to trip or slip out of my chair onto the floor, I may feel surprised, maybe alarmed, or even terrified.
Expectation deals with outcome based on need – “I must stand up now!” No plan or strategy. Just a predicted outcome to fulfill a need.
“In a moment, I’ll say a word and you’ll respond with…”
Hypnotists are keenly aware of the power of expectation in this common hypnotic setup.
The Expectation Effect is the basis for the placebo and nocebo effects we spoke about in our previous posts. We tend to get what we expect to get, “in a moment…”
My subconscious mind has no comprehension of time – which is why a full 8 hours after falling asleep, I feel that only seconds have passed. When I introduce an “in a moment…” expectation, my subconscious mind DOES IT NOW because it knows no other time frame.
