Although hypnosis has existed since ancient times, its study as a "science" dates back to the 1700s. A German doctor, Franz Mesmer, used it in the treatment of his patients, leading many to a newfound interest in hypnosis. Although originally thought of as a science and used to treat patients, it is now clear that hypnosis meets the criteria for being a pseudoscience. Many people use the term "science" lightly, including myself until now, and you consider hypnosis a science. However, if we look at the criteria for considering something a science, it becomes apparent that many of these subjects are actually pseudosciences. A scientific theory must be testable, progressive, correctable, coherent, parsimonious and useful. A pseudoscience, therefore, does not contain all these characteristics. Often, a pseudoscience will rely on blind faith and seriously lack evidence or testing. Pseudoscientists do not need to formulate theories or hypotheses and do not need to provide test results or observations to distribute or publish their ideas. This makes it easy to fall into the trap of believing that pseudoscience is real science. For me, I might have believed that hypnosis was a real science because of its popularity and uses on television. Although it seems trivial, over the years I have seen many cases where even law enforcement uses hypnosis or hypnotherapy. For example, I have seen hypnosis used for memory recall in cases of witnesses unable to remember important events. Furthermore, without knowing in advance the criteria for being considered a science, it was easy to simply believe that this was, in fact, a science. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Particularly in the case of hypnosis, one can examine the many characteristics of a pseudoscience and come to the conclusion that hypnosis is suitable. First of all, there is no standard scientific method that hypnosis follows to make it uniform. This produces biased test results due to different testing environments and procedures. Unreliable test results make it almost impossible to make accurate observations and hypotheses and therefore make it impossible for hypnosis to become a science. Furthermore, it is easy to manipulate the results of hypnosis to support theories produced by pseudoscientists. Unlike real science, hypnosis is not tested in a laboratory, but rather is often tested under untestable conditions, under manipulated circumstances. For example, because it is not always observed or tested under the same conditions, it is difficult to formulate symmetric or reliable tests. Furthermore, most of the time it is impossible to determine whether the results of hypnosis are due to the hypnosis itself or other underlying factors. Although hypnosis may initially seem like a science, its inability to follow the scientific method or produce verifiable results and observations makes it a pseudoscience..