BACK TO LIFE ITSELF

When you train, you are working with two kinds of knowledge. The first one is experiential knowledge—this knowledge comes from an actual experience. Then there is, secondly, an abstract knowledge which we built upon the experiential knowledge. Now actual experience is real. It is empirical and it is sensory-based. From that experience we build upon it classifications (we classify it) to create principles, explanations, etc.

While both are necessary to have a complete knowing, abstract knowledge has to be built upon experiential knowledge. Abstract knowledge also must be hierarchically integrated upon what is concrete and immediate. If it is not, if it is cut off from experience— it becomes merely academic and intellectual knowledge—cold, lifeless, abstract, etc. And while there are some weird people who want that (!), most people do not.

Most people know that reality comes down to experience. They know that without actual experience, all of the abstract knowledge is barren and impractical. It is a map without reference to any territory. It is a menu without a meal. It is a sex manual without sex. Now who wants any of that? Yet that’s a basic description of what occurs with on-line trainings!