Yo Mnemo  :  )
...Would welcome your (and everybody else's) contribution from experience, in the topic 'Context independent NH' in the lab!
Best,
AR

Empathia wrote:
I have now entered space (I now intuit this is N3...

N2 is 'space' & N3 is 'density', and what you're describing here sounds like a matrix shift  :  ) If that's true and you've filled out N2 and are moving in to N3, there's a whole new world of fun to come.

Empathia wrote: once I get the level of the crap around me lowered to the level my head stays above it, I can stop identifying with it and that's where it all begins... life I mean.

This is a really good way of explaining to newbies why we have to take time out to get the anxiety down  :  )
There is a sort of odd effect when you get this far, you do start noticing what an awful mess many people are in and how they get dragged about all over the emotional place, and it's tempting to think of them as 'bad' or as you say, 'demons'. It's important to remember that people are sick; not evil. Nobody wants to have a dysfunctional mind; we're all in the same boat-with-a-hole-in, and we gotta concentrate on swimming somewhere more sensible before all these poor buggers drown in anxiety. If we set an example by saving ourselves, at least some of them might try swimming too -and that's really all we can do.

Empathia wrote: I would be very interested in hearing if there are any techniques for this ghosting phenomenon

All I know so far is that the source monitoring error in such experiences stops when we grow sufficient density in the uncinate fasciculus [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncinate_fasciculus], septum pellucidum, hippocampal commissure, and fornix. Without this such experiences seem to assume another dimension and appear as though they are located outside ourselves.
Since this is one of the last bits of brain to develop anyway, the problem often goes away in our early thirties, when it's just about finished growing. In many people of course, it never gets there.

There is some considerable research on getting the ghosting effect to happen on purpose -not exactly what we need, right?  :  ) But their notes may help? Check out Persinger's work:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3046179.stm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_helmet
(loads of refs for his papers at bottom of wiki page)

...And I do like the imagery of 'getting all the crap off ourselves' rather than 'out of ourselves', because it's never really a part of us in the first place; hence our early confusion  :  )  Yeh, let's climb out of the disgusting old TE and wash away everything that smells bad!

Best,
AR

What? Lol. Is this a comment on my joke about Mnemo's absence?

It's ok. =] I feel the same today, under somewhat adverse conditions, I'm glad to say.

empathia Wrote:
I have tried a bit of fake it till you make it

It's not 'faking it' to behave like someone else. It's important to know the difference between trying to copy someone elses behavior, and pretending to be them. We want the former; you behave as you would if you were them; as if you had the same interests and concerns and the same roles in life you can imagine they do; you look at the world as you imagine they do.

If I said, "behave like you would if you were an athlete", I'm not asking you to pretend you are an athlete, in fact it's important that you know full well you are not an athlete, or the exercise would be pointless. "Behave as though" means: start doing the sort of things you would imagine athletes do (such as maybe work out or go swimming in the mornings, have a fruit breakfast, etc). Research their behaviors and copy them.

You must always know the reality of what's taking place: You're carrying out the behaviors that you imagine athletes do, in order to turn on genes that make people get athletic bodies. You're doing it deliberately and in full knowledge of how the process works.

After you amass a critical number of practice sessions in these behaviors, those genes will turn on. Suddenly you have the body of an athlete. By behaving like one, even though you knew you were not one, you have become one.  There's absolutely nothing fake about doing that; it's natural learning and its what we're designed to do. Exactly the same is true of mental abilities.

I know it can be hard to grasp the difference between these, so don't let it tie your brain in knots; just remember, if you keep at it, you'll get there in the end.
Best,
AR

I'm not seeing anything stupid about this...

There's nothing wrong with copying sense of humor; humor is a great way to get our minds out of all sorts of nonsense. Plus we only want to copy the good bits, and in a lot of people humor is the only good bit...I mean you gotta admit that with a lot of people there's limited choice in the modeling store... and let' face it with some persons we see lot of stuff we DON'T want to copy.

There's nothing wrong with having a limited imagination; improving these things in ourselves is exactly why we need good examples to copy in the first place. If I had great spatial skills I wouldn't need to model others' spatial skills, but mine are crap, so I do.

There's nothing wrong with learning a particular thing from one person's behavior and then moving on. It's not as though you are taking the skill from them; and who knows they might learn something from you as well.

There's nothing wrong with modeling attitude; it's just as good a hacking choice as body posture or facial expression.

Thing is there is no 'surface' level thing we can do without the deeper work going on underneath. You smile, you release neurochemicals; that's how it works. Play on the surface and the work underneath is done for you.

...So why not change the thread title to 'the start of one persons discovery'...?  :  )
Best,
AR

I'm trying to wean myself off reading things for my own pleasure. Would you like me to read some of them and comment (if I have a thought)?