Everything is valuable experience.

ok, i'm back...


well some of what has been added since i left kind of helps me make my point... yeah, the reason that bad experiences have value is because you learn from them and become stronger, at least in theory. there are other things that can give it value as well, like the example of someone writing an important book in prison. so in general i agree that some value can be found in pretty much any experience...

but i don't agree that a purely negative experience has value just because it's an experience... if you are locked away from the world, unable to contribute anything, and you are killed before you have the chance to grow from the experience, well then i can't see what value it could possibly have

or another example, what did the holocaust victims gain from their experience? the joy of riding on life's rollercoaster?

 

For the purpose of not being done in by what turns out to be minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things... and to provide strength and support for someone close to use dealing with an issue for the first time- to help assure them that things will be ok.

If one is hell-bent on being injured by negative circumstance then there's nothing that will be able to help them. This of course applies to most real life circumstances and not to the odd contrived situation conjured up for the sole purpose of "proving" me wrong.

 

edby its an interesting question. I think the important word to focus on here is value. Experience is what it is. There is a theoretical difference between perception as experience and perception as that by which we experience, but for practical purposes experience remains experience.

You've got to wonder, though, if most of the argument isn't going on in one particular mode of thought. If we assume that we can make value judgments in the first place than every experience has to have worth, or be valuable. There is such a thing as negative value. I don't see any real difference in calling something positive or negative when we're speaking of something as either valuable or not. And ultimately the answer you are looking for has to be yes. But if we assume that there can't be any such thing as value judgments, or that they are subjective, then its kind of a pointless question because the answer to your question is yes, no, maybe, and depends.

 

Some people see life as one big disaster after another. Other people see opportunity where others see disaster.

 

Sometimes I think this way, sometimes I don't. Sometimes a dark mood can keep you from realizing even the most sickeningly obvious truths.

I love it when I'm feeling especially optimistic, though, because I do realize that it's the best way to feel. I love it when people let their unpleasant experiences help them grow and that's how I like to live my life as well. Because, of course, happiness thrives on optimism and seeing the beauty in even the simplest things makes one less inclined to take everything for granted. Nothing is beautiful when you don't realize how much beauty is in everything.

But, of course, I challenge someone to ask me how I feel about optimism when I'm in one of my dark moods and see how it differs.