The Question: Is it better to learn from other people’s experiences or to experience things for yourself?

My 2 Cents: The saying “experience is the best teacher” is a statement with which I agree, but I don’t agree that you have to learn everything on your own and/or the hard way. Just like you take other people’s advice, you can learn from other people’s mistakes and successes. We’re quick to want to learn and try to duplicate someone else’s prosperity. Why not learn from others’ tragedies and NOT duplicate them? Why do some of us have to bump our heads hard before we get it? Stop that!

I agree with those of you who said it’s both: learn from other people’s experiences AND experiece things for yourself. With that being said, try to be wise about which experiences you take on first-hand and which experiences you allow to be handed down.

———-

Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:

———-

PROTECTED TWEETER I believe in both..you can learn from other people and yourself

Gingerlatte  I’ve lived vicariously thru others. Saved me tons of heartache.

PROTECTED TWEETER  Realistically you will learn from both, that’s how life works…

jigsawverbiage  yes. Accept the caution from select others but don’t be afraid to throw it to the wind.

rishaholmes  better to experience things yourself.

shargrove  You need both to learn.

ThisIsMelyssah  Both. Important to make own mistakes but wise to learn from others’ experiences, tho can be harder to relate to

Mo_Rease  I would say a little of both.

live_cotton  first-hand experience definitely drives the point home, but some mistakes can be very costly!

TankaBar_JasonD  It depends on what it is. like a worker that is in the wrong place at the wrong time and losses a limb. better to learn frm dem

atane  You can learn from the mistakes of others, as well as your own.

Quintessence_T  both—it takes watching AND hands on experience to learn…

treschic67  Its better to Learn from your OWN Experiences.

ibster  Depends on the lesson. I don’t need to be run over myself to learn that looking both ways is beneficial.

UrbanWiseWifey  some people need both! After thinking about it more, I suppose I’d rather learn things the “easy” way.

davidsbass  That which you learn by yourself sinks deeper; but that which you learn from others reaches wider.

Pettra88  Both

jreneker  Learn from other’s for the bad stuff and experience for yourself for the good stuff.

MissMeandI  It’s better 2 have a combination of both…Other’s to know what to expect, your own to know how you’d handle it

NightShade10  It’s easier on me if I allow myself to learn from other’s experiences, less heartache.Observation beats perspiration this time!

chela816  MY goal is to learn from other people’s mistakes, but build my own positive experiences.

DiamondEmory  Life is made up of both, my own unique experiences, 2 be shared AND me learning frm othrs, not reinventing the wheel.

tclarkusa  Experience things for yourself. What’s the cliche’–> Experience is the best teacher.

LPGthatDude  That heavily depends on the experience. If it’s something dangerous, learn from them. If not, personal experience is good.

walkerdl  It depends on the experience. Some, you can benefit from learning from others. Others, it’s better to experience urself

JoshDamage  first hand learning experiences are the best teaching tools.

ishadowaddict  better to learn from other peoples experience especially when it comes to harmful behavior.

———-

The commentary doesn’t have to end!

Please feel free to continue to add your comments below.