While I do agree with you that there are differences unique to psychedelic experiences versions "real" experiences, your enumeration isn't quite accurate - Most psychedelics last 1-12 hours, intensity is almost entirely dependent on dosage, and most meditation exercises are also about ego loss. And that's before you get into things like sensory deprivation or binaural beats, although for this discussion I'd put them on the psychedelic side of the line because they do similar things in the brain.
It's actually a pretty common comment from experienced "psychonauts": that you can have the same experience without the substances, it just takes years or decades of training and quite a bit of per-experience preparation. This is also because, on a chemical level, a number of psychedelics actually just get your brain to do something it'll normally (but rarely) do - the substance you take doesn't actually create the experience, the substance your brain releases/creates/doesn't absorb due to what you've taken does the work.
That all said? In a normal life, by a normal person? Yeah, those three you mention are what I'd expect to seriously differentiate the psychedelic and non-psychedelic experiences.
Regarding the comment about intensity: I agree that the intensity is dosage dependent. What I was getting at was that with a sufficient dosage, psychedelics can provide a level of intensity that is for the most part not matched by "real" experiences that most people would encounter. Also, the peak effects of most psychedelics last only a few hours at most. I imagine a 12 hour peak would be rather uncomfortable.
I think my response is colored by my relative lack of life experience. I agree with you that it is likely possible to achieve a similarly intense experience via activities like skilled meditation, though I haven't done it myself.
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While I do agree with you that there are differences unique to psychedelic experiences versions "real" experiences, your enumeration isn't quite accurate - Most psychedelics last 1-12 hours, intensity is almost entirely dependent on dosage, and most meditation exercises are also about ego loss. And that's before you get into things like sensory deprivation or binaural beats, although for this discussion I'd put them on the psychedelic side of the line because they do similar things in the brain.
It's actually a pretty common comment from experienced "psychonauts": that you can have the same experience without the substances, it just takes years or decades of training and quite a bit of per-experience preparation. This is also because, on a chemical level, a number of psychedelics actually just get your brain to do something it'll normally (but rarely) do - the substance you take doesn't actually create the experience, the substance your brain releases/creates/doesn't absorb due to what you've taken does the work.
That all said? In a normal life, by a normal person? Yeah, those three you mention are what I'd expect to seriously differentiate the psychedelic and non-psychedelic experiences.
Regarding the comment about intensity: I agree that the intensity is dosage dependent. What I was getting at was that with a sufficient dosage, psychedelics can provide a level of intensity that is for the most part not matched by "real" experiences that most people would encounter. Also, the peak effects of most psychedelics last only a few hours at most. I imagine a 12 hour peak would be rather uncomfortable.
I think my response is colored by my relative lack of life experience. I agree with you that it is likely possible to achieve a similarly intense experience via activities like skilled meditation, though I haven't done it myself.
A 12 hour peak can definitely be described as uncomfortable. It was certainly interesting, at least. The DOX class of drugs are weird.