How we learn from experience
by dorota_ielts_c on November 4, 2009
in students
Although experience reflects the events from the past, it has a strong influence on our present life and the future. On the basis of experience we form our opinions and attitude towards life and other people, it is also one of the crucial elements of the learning process.
There is a common tendency to think that learning from experience means not making the same mistake more than once. In my opinion there’s a little bit more to it. For me it also means the ability to look critically at ourselves and change. In this view, learning from experience is the only way to grow and make progress.
All of us compare new information with previous knowledge and experience, so it directly affects the way we learn. Education is most effective when we use our experience as a base but allow changes to our learning methods.
I think people fail to learn from experience mainly because they refuse to admit, even to themselves, that they have made a mistake. This strategy let people maintain a high self-esteem but restrains them from making progress and is destructive in the long run.
What is the meaning of the word ‘experience’? It is a wisdom gained in the past that allows us to avoid undesirable mistakes in the future. How do we gain it? Happily, we are all equiped with central nervous system, called brain, which allows us to analyse, connect and remember some facts. These abilities allow us to learn in many different ways – from others experience, from their mistakes, from our own mistakes or by using imagination to predict some future facts. Learning from others experience is safe and catalytic in most cases. (e.g. How to be a dentist without meeting one, who will share his knowledge with you? By trial or error method?) Learning from mistakes is rather safe, if the mistakes aren’t your own. If they are, this kind of gaining experience can be physically or emotionally painful. Strong negative feelings give us certainty that we will not repeat the same mistake in the future. Learning from prediction is based on abilities of our brain to analyse and find some analogies among a wide range of situations. But be careful. It is very easy to make a mistake – even a big one – while relying only on imagination. So make sure that your way of thinking is convergent with someone else’s experience. And remember, ask, and you will find the way.