experience

Experience refers to the practical contact with and observation of facts, events, or stimuli, and to the knowledge or skill gained through involvement or exposure. It encompasses what a person perceives, feels, and thinks as a result of living through or engaging with something. In everyday use, experience blends subjective perception with the accumulation of practical understanding, complementing theoretical knowledge.

There are multiple senses of the term. Lived experience denotes the subjective, first-person reality of individuals. Professional or work experience refers to time spent in roles that develop competencies and familiarity with procedures. Experiential knowledge is tacit know-how gained through doing, often difficult to articulate. Experiences can be direct, through one’s own senses and actions, or vicarious, learned secondhand from others.

In learning and decision-making, experience plays a central role. Experiential learning theories describe cycles that include concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. In psychology and neuroscience, experiences shape memory, emotion, and perception. In social and professional contexts, experience is often used as a metric of qualification or credibility, though it can be imperfect or biased and does not automatically guarantee competence.

Philosophically, experience raises questions about the sources and limits of knowledge, including debates about empiricism versus rationalism. The word derives from Latin experientia, via Old French expérience, from the verb experiri meaning to try. In modern usage, experience spans personal life, professional practice, consumer interactions, and the design of user experiences in technology.