system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is hypnosis?
gpt
Hypnosis is a state of consciousness where an individual loses much of their peripheral awareness and experiences extreme focus and attention, and has enhanced responsiveness to suggestion.

Hypnosis is *not* something that can be done to you.  It is an ability of the subject.  A person with minimal training can hypnotize someone *that is capable of voluntarily being hypnotized*, but hypnotization does not work if the subject does not follow the directions, relax, focus, and set themselves up for being hypnotized. Also some people simply can't be hypnotized.

The waving watch back and forth and making people do stuff is fake.  However, hypnotists do have success making people quit smoking and the like.