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In my fantasy world there are aliens who when they interact use paranormal suggestive traits and have glowing eyes.

How could glowing eyes facilitate this paranormal trait and how could people thus avoid it?

In this case the glowing eyes create a paranormal suggestion effect that makes people believe and do things as if by hypnosis (if it exists).

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  • $\begingroup$ What are you asking for? The only answer that made biology and/or xenobiology sense was hypnosis... and you mention it in your question. (In other words, it looks like you already have a solution....) Are you looking for an answer where the glowing, itself, is the cause of control... or that the glowing is merely an indicator that something else (that causes control) is happening? Please keep in mind that you don't get to say "both or either, brother" because that's a reason to close your question. Please be specific, focused, and reasonably objective. Thanks. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Aug 3 at 22:14
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for pointing this out. I mean that the glowing itself is the cause of control. What I don‘t understand is, how this control can be exercised. I notice how people are also very keen on closing questions, so thank you for your warning. $\endgroup$
    – at_
    Commented Aug 3 at 22:27
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    $\begingroup$ Stack Exchange advocates closing questions quickly. The purpose of the service is to be a library of specifically useful information. When questions are unclear, too broad, or simply hunting for ideas, they should be closed. Consider reading this help center page. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Aug 3 at 22:52
  • $\begingroup$ I have read the help center page. And I have hoped to have clarified my answer. Is my answer still unclear to you? Thank you. $\endgroup$
    – at_
    Commented Aug 3 at 22:55
  • $\begingroup$ That's quite a bit better and I appreciate the effort you made to do this. +1 $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Aug 3 at 23:21

2 Answers 2

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Subliminal messaging.

The glowing eyes are in fact a projection device. The psi's nervous system instinctively analyzes which features in the field of vision are in focus. The retinal cells broadcast monochromatic light directly outward toward the terrain they would normally make an image of, using an ommatidium-like construct. Most of the time the retina is dark, so sight is normal, and calibrates the projected image locations precisely.

The visual association area is co-opted to create the images to be projected. These images are, by and large, written words. The target of the attack sees these words for thousandths of a second and interprets them subconsciously in the same way as they would read any other text.

The trick is that the visual projections are timed in such a way as to entrain the victim's alpha wave rhythm. The victim's brain is at a particular microsecond after processing the text when it is most vulnerable to suggestion, when the text appears again, and by a weakness in their cognitive processing, they tend to view the projected words as their own thought rather than something coming at them from outside. As a result, they tend to comply with most reasonable commands. Of course, if something is so drastic that they would start thinking why would I ever think such a horrid thing?, then they will reject it with some emotional perturbance, and the spell will be broken.

Also note that entraining the alpha rhythm in this way, so that the flashes of light come at a point where the victim doesn't perceive them as external, also means he doesn't perceive the psi as having glowing eyes. Only a witness out of range of the effect will see it.

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  • $\begingroup$ Wow, I do love your alpha wave idea. Thank you! You are very kind, to offer this advice. $\endgroup$
    – at_
    Commented Aug 3 at 22:29
  • $\begingroup$ I think we've all held a fork and briefly thought "I wonder what would happen if I just jabbed this in my neck" or similar, but it wasn't until now that I knew this was evidence for UFOs. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Wagner
    Commented Aug 5 at 5:05
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Cuttlefish do something like that in real life.

Cuttlefish in real life have skin that contains organs called chromatophores that are able to expand and contract to produce different colors. When the cuttlefish encounters certain prey (Such as crabs), it uses the chromatophores to display a pattern that resembles rapidly-moving waves across its skin. This causes the prey to enter a trance-like state, allowing the cuttlefish to capture and eat it. Here are some videos showing this technique:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbDzVzBsbGM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjloPutUCeo

So, you can employ some handwavium and say that your aliens' eyes are capable of rapidly flickering in different colors and causing something akin to a seizure in a victim that happens to leave the victim suggestible.

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    $\begingroup$ Fascinating, thank you for your time and input! $\endgroup$
    – at_
    Commented Aug 4 at 5:51

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