Do-it-yourself Psychological Change

[sakoz]

New concept: "UNWITTINGLY BELIEVING" IS ITSELF ALREADY "CONDITIONED BEHAVIOR".
That puts it in the same category as dieting, smoking, habits, addictions,etc.
We inadvertently put a "habit in charge of our other habits". Conditioning in charge of conditioning.  (yikes)
Let's reclaim our right to CHOOSE which thoughts to BELIEVE.  "Believing"  is too consequential to be done automatically.
In primitive times it was essential to flee to survive. Our ancestors required "automaticity" before the 'thinking cortex' evolved. 'Thinking' is slower than involuntary reactions. In primitive times, hearing a noise from behind a bush, they didn't delay to consider if the sound is made by predator or prey,  used the lead-time to flee immediately in  case it was predator, seconds were crucial, the difference was capture or escape.
In our times "false beliefs' are substituted for 'predators' of old days. False beliefs are what we need to avoid instead of predators, We can't outrun our own false beliefs, there also "stealthy', unrecognized often. At least  in old days the noise gave warning of possible presence. For us, we experience emotions to warn us of "lurking" subliminal false beliefs.

[sakoz]

"BELIEVING" is the MAGIC WAND of yesteryear folk lore. Of cource 'your' too sophisticated to believe superstitious magic. So it went 'underground', hidden from conscious view/scrutiny and therefore from control or intervening, kibitzing, or kibosh.
UNWITTINGLY BELIEVING is NOT volitional but involuntary. So, so much for your sophisticated intellectual prowess and I.Q. score. How you doing with your emotional suffering and dysfunctional behavior and mistake making?
Epictetus said; "It's not the facts that disturb us but our thoughts about them." He left out the vital factor of "BELIEVING".  We all 'entertain' thoughts we DON'T believe and so they are not "disturbing' nor problematic at all, as Epictetus contends.
" BELIEVING" is the difference that makes a difference.
"Thoughts'" can only 'hurt' or 'disturb' if 'BELIEVED". You 'can' test this yourself, don't accept hearsay.
Remember when you 'stopped believing' Santa Claus was real? You didn't analyze if his boots were made of leather or plastic, nor the aerodynamics of "deer-flight". You just STOPPED BELIEVING your image was real.

[sakoz]

What's the "target"? The 'target' is a perspective, analogous to lucid dream. Lucid dreams are "witnessed" from a perspective that's NOT part of the dream 'content'.
If there's anyone experienced with lucid dreams please elucidate that "witnessing perspective" in more detail here please.
In the meantime, think of a image, then focus on the perspective from where you witness the image. There's NOTHING there; only consciousness, and that's NOT a 'thing'.

[sakoz]

Our subliminal level is analogous to the submicroscopic level of physics.  They both have observable effects on the  macro level.
Emotional suffering and/or dysfunctional behavior are the 'effects' of "subliminal believing" some of our images are real.
The phrase, "unwittingly believing" is 'bantered' about without  understanding the full import of the matter.
"Unwittingly Believing" and "Quantum Quanta" are NOT visible, only the affects/effects are experienced/experienceable.
Physicists UNDERSTAND submicroscopic level.  Do you UNDERSTAND your subliminal level?

[sakoz]

When we stop believing some of out images are real;  we 'short-circuit' the conditioned reactions; analogous to taking the clapper out of Pavlov's bell.

Richard Feynman wrote; "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool"

Why can't the brain detect false from true thought-images ? Why are all thought-images assumed real as our 'default' setting? Because the primary goal is to stay ALIVE ; IRRESPECTIVE of 'hurting' our dignity or 'losing face'.
Let 'the chips fall where they may', as long as we survive. The way to assure that is to believe all images are real. Knowing that, we can take that into consideration and compensate. Most people are not yet doing so.