How do you do research into matters? Share your research techniques and habits!

[Pilgrimage of Self]

As we all know, doing personal investigation into matters is really,really, really important. Acquiring the right knowledge and the understanding or failing to do so can be the difference between success or failure in whatever we set out to do.

So how do you research things? Do you have a system? Where do you go and what do you do when you wanna know more about stuff?

Sure googling and youtubeing is a good start but me personally, I want to develop a system to do it more efficiently..to get to the most high quality sources in minimum time. 

I just want to get better at researching stuff basically and I think it would be beneficial for everyone if we all learned to do this better.

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Pilgrimage of Self

[Commodent]

Muscle testing is something that I'm very much looking into. It's a nondual technique that can be used to discern truth from falsehood.

Read more about it here:

• "Power vs. Force" by David R. Hawkins
• http://www.ccrtblog.com/getting-started/?v=c2f3f489a005
• http://www.ccrtblog.com/what-do-we-already-know-about-muscle-testing/?v=c2f3f489a005

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Commodent

[Derek White]

@Leo Gura I am interested in your answer.

@Pilgrimage of Self I use my university's library to access research papers. Trusted websites like google scholar. My local library has good resources too. Finally textbooks and encyclopedias. If you enroll in a decent university they teach you how to do proper research.

 

[Jj13]

I usually start by googling something like "best books for xxx". Then I read about people's opinions, check them out on youtube, and see what resonates with me. After cross-referencing a bit I find something that is both reviewed and approved by many people and that resonates with me. That I just use Library Genesis and get that book.

But that way I can only learn what people already know, it's not discovery of something new.

[Derek White]

@Serotoninluv What's your research process. 

[StarStruck]

@Pilgrimage of Self Look into "creating a common book". Leo has a video on it. I'm using OneNote and it works well.

[Forestluv]

This seems to be an important skill as the internet is flooded by materials ranging from low quality to high quality. Unfortunately, it is much easier to produce low quality material. High quality material is much rarer because it involves a lot of work to develop expertise. 

How I do online research depends on the topic. If it is an academically-related topic, I would likely use google scholar or pubmed. I would look for experts in the field. Right now, the question arises in my mind “what is the neuroscience of dreams? And how is dream-related brain activity related to psychedelics, creativity and schizophrenia?”. This is a relatively complex question that could take multiple steps of research. I would probably start off with a two keyword search and look for works from neuroscientists. I would keep an eye out for individuals or groups that are doing work in this area. Quite often, I’ll find an article from an amateur that cites a good expert. As I go along, I will cross-reference. If I read one article that discusses uncoupling the DMN and then another that mentions similar, that will get my attention. I may also look for YT videos, like TedTalks or academic-related videos. I know enough in this area to be able to sniff out higher quality stuff.

As important is being able to sniff out BS. There is an intuition one can gain for BS. For example, if someone is over-emphasizing their credentials, that is a red flag. Or if someone is obviously trying to sell something or has a hidden agenda. Over time, I’ve become pretty good at sniffing out hidden agendas.

Filtering out the low quality crap is easy. It gets harder as the quality gets higher. And there is less and less high quality sources. One can evolve so high in an area that there are very few high quality sources available. Within the middle range of quality, I notice two features. The information may be at a surface level, have lots of gaps or not be very integrated. As well the middle quality range can be a mixture of low, middle and high quality information. This is the hardest to sift through, especially if I am not knowledgeable in the area.

For areas I’m not well-versed in, I would likely get feedback from someone I know with knowledge that I trust. For example, I have a friend who specializes in EMDR therapy and another that is a Reiki master. I don’t know much about these areas and may ask them for good sources. . . . As well, there is often a resonance I feel. For example, when I first researched Kriya Yoga, I bought the book off of Leo’s book list. I knew immediately that the author was a top level expert. This guy devoted most of his life to Kriya yoga and I could tell he knew his stuff. There was an immediate resonance and confidence. As well, I did a search for YT videos and found someone that cross-referenced the book well. The YT guy mentioned a lot of things in the book. 

I think you were referring to online research. Yet there is also the research of personal experimentation. Here, I use a process similar to the scientific method. Some question of curiosity and/or desire arises. One question arising lately for me is “How can I experience the experience of other people?”. I’m highly empathic and my hypothesis is that if the attachment/identification to a personal story can fully dissolve, then we should be able to access any personality”. I have verified this to some extent in direct experience, yet it gets tricky since the psychosis of being trapped halfway in a reality can arise. My research into this has involved experimentation and deep observation. For example, I’ve tried setting intentions, I’ve tried to enter state in a variety of different settings, I’ve used substances to get in state, I’ve watched videos about people deeply describing their experience. And I observe, observe, observe. For me, the most important skills of experimentation are openness, allowing space and observation. Then I tweak my experiments accordingly. For example, I’ve noticed I am much better at getting in state when watching someone describe an emotional experience of suffering - for example someone describing the insanity and struggles of solitary confinement. For some reason, I can do it much easier with painful experiences. I’ve had to work toward entering other’s experiences that are neutral or positive. Yet I’ve done it a few times with those as well.