Knowledge is a prison. It might be a really nice prison with really modern decor and all the conveniences you could want and it might even be pretty expansive, but it is still a prison to the extent that you are attached to your knowledge. The reason is that attaching to knowledge like the guy with the full cup means, you are no longer learning. You are done. You’ve just set your boundaries. You can go no farther.
Experience is what you’re looking to gain. You need to feel what you are learning. There’s a saying “Education is what is left behind when what was learnt has been forgotten.” It is true. What does this mean? What’s implicit in this saying? That education is 'Experience'. Your experiences in your education are what stick with you while the knowledge is forgotten.
The best word to describe the heart-centric component of experience is “appreciation.” Here is a story about Jack London’s “to build a fire.” It's the story of a guy who goes on a hike with his dog on a bitterly cold day somewhere in Canada and eventually freezes to death. He stops halfway to eat and tries to build a fire and can’t and he dies. It's a great, short story worth reading. The point is, the narrator claimed he “knew” how cold it was but didn’t understand or wasn’t wise enough to know the trip was ill advised.
The best word to describe the heart-centric component of experience is “appreciation.” Here is a story about Jack London’s “to build a fire.” It's the story of a guy who goes on a hike with his dog on a bitterly cold day somewhere in Canada and eventually freezes to death. He stops halfway to eat and tries to build a fire and can’t and he dies. It's a great, short story worth reading. The point is, the narrator claimed he “knew” how cold it was but didn’t understand or wasn’t wise enough to know the trip was ill advised.
The guy didn’t appreciate how cold it was. He didn’t “appreciate” his human frailty and the immense power and danger of nature. He “knew” it was -40 degrees or whatever, and just figured he’d dress really warm. The point is that if he survived his ordeal, it’s a sure bet he would never try something so foolhardy again. Not because he would “know” more but because he would “appreciate” the situation. He would not have made that trip on that day unless he had no choice. This is the same as the little boy burning his hand. Experience changes our future behaviors. Its what causes the current behaviors. (among other things)
So, be careful about reading self help books and listening to motivational people. You need experience more than knowledge.
Quotes on Experience:
The only source of knowledge is experience. - Albert Einstein.
Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; Experience is what you get when you don't. ~Pete Seeger.
We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it — and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again — and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore. ~Mark Twain.
Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won't have time to make them all yourself. ~Alfred Sheinwold.
Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. ~Aldous Leonard Huxley, Texts and Pretexts, 1932.
Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald. ~Proverb.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. ~Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See.
The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson. ~Author Unknown.
Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; Experience is what you get when you don't. ~Pete Seeger.
We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it — and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again — and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore. ~Mark Twain.
Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won't have time to make them all yourself. ~Alfred Sheinwold.
Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. ~Aldous Leonard Huxley, Texts and Pretexts, 1932.
Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald. ~Proverb.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. ~Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See.
The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson. ~Author Unknown.
Author and Credits: J.A.P