This is what i argue a lot about with my girlfriend. Am I really trying? What does it mean when I say, that I'll try to be better listener or whatever? She always calls my bluff. I'm only promising to try. But that is what i mean. I'll do what i can with the resources I have, I won't promise more than I can deliver.

But what about hypnosis? A hypnotist says to his subject, that try to lift your hand, and the subject can't do that. But when he says to lift your hand, the subject will do this. So in Suggestion, saying "try to do this" means "don't do it".

I hope to read a follow-up post about hypnotism, and trying to try. I've only seen abridged display of hypnosis in my medical studies, not the whole thing from start to finish. But the answer about what "trying" means lies there. When hypnotist says "forget the pain" some people really do when they wouldn't be able to it by themselves however much they tried. I guess hypnotist is only a specialist in making people believe that they have to do something, and there is no possibility of failure.