Experience and culture

Abstract

Each of us lives the experience; one could say we are part of it. If we lived in a state of continuous and permanent experience, we would be unable to speak of it, for we know little, and few things actually form part of our experience. It is true that we are shaped by experience—our actions are refined through it, and if we wish to improve, we must turn to it—though this in itself tells us nothing. It is also true that experience is the knowledge gained through use, practice, and living; it constitutes a form of education, culture, and thought. Defined in this way, it blurs into a habit—a way of being