Only a fool covets power without first appreciating it's delicate uses and inherent pitfalls... 

There is no worry in my mind of having some "walk-in" experience if I am using a copy of my etheric body for astral projection. The master copy belongs to me, myself, and I, and they can't do a thing about it - although 'they' might try, those jerks.

Not yet. I'll make that my first recon mission!

BTW, thanks for the link... pretty pictures!

There's no knowledge, no skills, no magic wand to stop the world's ills.  We can't change anything others do, but we can change ourselves.  When we change ourselves, the whole world transforms.  The way to heal others is to heal ourselves, and the way out is to go within.

With the specific knowledge attained through AP, you would work to stop the sex trade, child abuse, etc.

Right?

Xeno, I don't think you could put an end to the sex trade, or change the world, through astral projection.

Ahh yea I umm, ok hmm. First I would say yes, one could actually do that - put an end to the sex trade, or change the world, through astral projection. Even though that's not even what I meant initially. (So I guess I cheated in answering the question because what I meant was to give myself unlimited power to change the world which was not exactly the question.)

Before I read your next paragraph about recon missions I was going to reply that one would not need to physically manipulate anything but only to gather information. Because projecting gives you access to information that would not otherwise be available. So what I was going to propose would be exactly what you've written:

This alone could possibly grant you more power to change your world than physical manipulation might - as they say it is all about informaion, lack thereof or control thereof.

In IRC, I stated that I would run recon missions and report back to NR. It's a fun question, because AP to the average person is way out there... it's a difficult method for gathering data on the unseen and unknown - more active and physically taxing than sitting at a Ouiji board or dangling a pendulum over a chart!

FYI, the three books that got us started on the topic in IRC last night were Robert Monroe's Far Journeys, Ultimate Journey, and Robert Bruce's Astral Dynamics

The basic question is "What would you do if you could astral project (aka project your consiousness out of your body, to perceive things beyond your normal senses)?".

Assuming each individual does have the ability to project their conciousness, the question would become - Now that you know you have the ability to astrally project your conciousness and percieve things beyond 'normal senses', what will you do with that ability?

Furthermore, assuming that you yourself _have_ projected your conciousness here - that this is indeed how you arrived here for that very purpose of 'exploration' (and thereby empowerment through knowledge), then what would you do with that knowledge? The answer would be that you would BE AWARE. Of your real self and of your 'purpose'.

The generic answer being that one would make an honest attempt to alter their reality (or 'change the world') into something more in alignment with what they would percieve to be its proper state. This of course could include a literal cornucopia of alterations on the realm.

Would one be responsible enough to use their power at all?

Well I would of course have my list - the top of it including ending sex/slave trade of people. (puting an end to the forced trade of sex through forms of slavery) Then there would be ending kidnappings, ending child abuse, etc. . . .

But here comes the loop, because by doing any of these things I presumably wouldn't actually know that I wouldn't be adversly effecting other things which lie outside my scope of understanding. How would I know that I wouldn't be altering something on another level - a level to which I am presently oblivious - thereby altering things that I have 'no business' changing?

. . . when you view from this angle it becomes quite the conundrum.