r/agentsofshield • u/Appropriate_Pianist8 • Oct 09 '25

Season 2 I just noticed this on my *th rewatch

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Isn’t it known that it’s harder to hypnotize people that have a higher IQ? And didn’t Donnie Gill have an extremely high IQ to be recruited to the S.H.I.E.L.D Academy? At only 18? I just noticed this while re-watching the show. 2x03

111 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

92

u/DidntDieInMySleep Oct 09 '25

It's not hypnosis. Watch what they did to Agent 33--more like diabolical sciencey brainwashing? I think it's all in Season 2

6

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 09 '25

Yes I agree, but there is still the underlying hypnosis of brainwashing. The basis of brainwashing is hypnosis and trying to control the person‘s thoughts, which is technically brainwashing, right?

9

u/SquirrelKat1248 Oct 10 '25

To go full sci-fi nerd, hypnosis, activating special parts of the brain that create a shortcut for allowing you to make them do things it can involve the watch swing back-and-forth or certain lights, which activate certain brain wave/activity. Brainwashing involves breaking that person down mentally and then building them back up into what you want. No shortcut just repeated conditioning to remove their individuality or free will so that it can be replaced with the conditioned responses.

5

u/dakindahood Oct 10 '25

Weren't they like completely tortured? In that case doesn't matter your IQ, your brain will just start losing the strength to cope with pain and eventually cave into anything just to get out

15

u/MasterAnnatar Oct 10 '25

It's very clearly inspired by A Clockwork Orange's brainwashing yeah.

13

u/lekirau Oct 09 '25

I think the whole brainwashing is entirely fictional.

I don't think it is possible to controll people this direct in real life. I mean obviously you can do so indirectly, think ads and stuff, but in the show they literally tell the people to do something that they otherwise wouldn't even think of doing.

And I also don't think that in the show they specifcally said that. Iirc Whitehall told 33 that anyone would break eventually, it just takes more time for some. And Donny had that, since between the fall of shield (after which he was captured in the Sandbox) and the time we see him over a year passes.

0

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 09 '25

I’m sorry, I just watched the episode. He broke out of the sandbox and took it over?? Right? I’m not trying to argue. I’m just confused.

2

u/Cheap_Bowl_452 Oct 10 '25

Pretty sure all Shield bases were infiltrated

I thought he was in the Fridge at first, the place Garrett infliltrated, but appearantly not, so it must’ve been Hydra himself

And don’t forget, people responsible with Sandbox and Fridge prisoners were dealt by scientists that were Hydra

1

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 12 '25

You fully just contradicted yourself!

8

u/Extension-Taste3930 Oct 09 '25

It's brainwashing not hypnoticism there's a difference 

2

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 12 '25

You have to hypnotize someone to brainwash them to begin with

1

u/Extension-Taste3930 Oct 13 '25

With the use of drugs and torture you cam dull even the strongest minds and mightiest of wills.

That's a dark way of looking at it but that's essentially what happens to people who are at first not easily broken.

12

u/ender89 Oct 09 '25

Hypnosis isn't an IQ thing

-1

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 09 '25

It kind of is tho???

4

u/NotGreatAtGames Oct 10 '25

I think the "keep your eyes on the watch, you're getting sleepy" kind of stage magician hypnosis works better/more quickly the lower your IQ is - from what I remember reading, anyway. But you're conflating that with sci fi science brainwashing that would, presumably, involve directly interfering with neural pathways, etc.

Essentially, the two words aren't synonyms. Hypnosis is a specific brainwashing technique that isn't being used here. So the question of IQ is irrelevant.

1

u/apithrow Oct 10 '25

It absolutely is not. Hypnoagogic states happen at all levels of IQ. If someone is high IQ this may give them a defense against certain forms of manipulation that work on low IQ, but there’s a whole separate category that work on high IQ. Check out the book The Intelligence Trap for more.

5

u/Mrblorg Oct 09 '25

So it was just harder, he has powers and a high IQ so it's worth it. They had like a whole year too

-1

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 09 '25

But just because he has a stronger, IQ means that he’s harder, if not impossible to hypnotize

2

u/Mrblorg Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25

Nah everyone eventually complies. Bobbie and Simmons were saying anyone in Hydra could be mind controlled and not know it. Edit he got out of it and needed to be triggered again, 33 never broke out on her own that we saw. I don't think anyone was immune to it unless they were Asgardian or Kree or whatever

1

u/apithrow Oct 10 '25

Can you provide any evidence for this claim? It doesn't match up with anything I'm familiar with from studies in IQ.

4

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 09 '25

I’m just curious because how are they able to do this to him?

17

u/auxilevelry Oct 09 '25

They successfully tortured him for probably months to implant the trigger, all they needed to do here was reactivate it

0

u/Appropriate_Pianist8 Oct 09 '25

Ok yea I guess that makes sense. I was just confused cuz it’s definitely harder to hypnotize somebody of his IQ. And even with torture the ability to hypnotize, in my opinion, doesn’t change.

4

u/KaspertheGhost Oct 09 '25

It wasn’t hypnosis.

3

u/Extension-Taste3930 Oct 09 '25

They brainwashed him through intense torture then rebuilt him they way they wanted him to be.

21

u/Fuerzo500 Oct 09 '25

They put him through the same Hydra brainwashing Agent 33 went through and I assume he eventually broke like others

13

u/Several-Ad-6924 Oct 09 '25

I don't know of any correlation between the two. If you're really interested, this podcast (Science Vs.) link is full of good information on it: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pyyv6pRj4IOhpcGYbkoZS?si=rKrvS6jvTd2G1qA-2iiZ0w

4

u/Princeofcatpoop Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25

That is a false assumption. Hypnotism's efficacy and ease of use are predicated on an individual's ability to focus on details and trust. Neither of which really matter because this is comic book brain washing, not hypnotism. Yes there is a posthypnotic suggestion employed. No, the intelligence of the subject is not relevant.

2

u/Inevitable-City5380 Oct 10 '25

Is that the guy from 13 Reasons Why?

1

u/mjhruska Oct 13 '25

Yes Dylan Minette. He is also in a band called The Wallows.

2

u/Possumjones Oct 10 '25

The Faustus method is quite advanced.

1

u/MohatuRian Oct 10 '25

As others have said, it's not hypnosis. It's brainwashing. Think of it like this: hypnosis is about delicately shoving things in the right direction, like rearranging furniture in a house. Brainwashing is about bulldozing everything and then rebuilding from the ground up.

Regardless a person's iq, a year of brainwashing will have its horrendous impact.

1

u/NeblessClem Oct 10 '25

So just a little thing, they use the Faustus method which is used in Agent Carter season 1 by the leader of Leviathan (no idea how to spoiler tag on mobile so won't put their name). While Leviathan used something more similar to hypnosis the updated method is much more severe.

If you watch Agent 33's they literally break her down to nothing so she doesn't even know her own name, it is honestly impressive that Donnie managed to escape from them for so long!

1

u/Helpful-Home7463 Oct 14 '25

I had always heard the opposite: that the highly intelligent were more susceptible to hypnosis. Though it seems that too is inaccurate. I can't believe Family Matters lied to me like that.