Experience Without
By Daniel Miessler on October 25th, 2006: Tagged as Musings
Perhaps the most useful life skill is the ability to learn life lessons via proxy. This can be through anecdotal evidence, reading, or whatever. Those who can learn what to do — or more importantly, what not to do — without having to actually have the experience have a massive advantage in life.
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Now I understand your fascination with the UFC stuff.
Comment by Carl M — 10/25/2006 @ 9:16 am
I heard it expressed this way:
Experience is learning from your mistakes. Wisdom is learning from other people’s.
Comment by Zhasper — 10/25/2006 @ 7:16 pm
Indeed, Zhasper…that’s a great way to put it. But to me it’s not just about learning from mistakes. It’s also about understanding varying experiences (at least to some degree) without needing to experience them. I think it enriches life in general.
Comment by Daniel Miessler — 10/26/2006 @ 2:43 am
Yes, you’re right - that is nothing more than a summary.
For myself - I grew up in a small country town, with very narrow-minded conservative fundamentalist christian parents. If it weren’t for me being able to see things through other peoples eyes - chiefly through reading books from the local library - I’d never have realised that there were alternative viewpoints, let alone started thinking about whether some of those viewpoints might be valid….
One of the things I most enjoy about meeting new people is that every new person I meet is a new chance to try to understand what experiences have shaped their perception of the world, and what that can tell me about myself.
Comment by Zhasper — 10/26/2006 @ 5:19 am