Hi Everyone! It's Tim again. We've had some intense topics in recent weeks, so I want to propose something more self-development-focused and casual to talk about.
“Belief is a poor substitute for experience.” – Tony Robbins
People have beliefs—it’s almost like an instinct for us. Whether it’s something as big as believing in reincarnation or as small as wondering if he or she likes me
, beliefs shape how we see the world. However, as this quote suggests, belief alone isn’t enough when compared to experience. Why is that? I'll leave that for you guys to answer.Belief vs. Experience
While beliefs can shape our perspectives and decisions, they are often incomplete or misleading without real-life application. Many life lessons, especially the most profound ones, cannot be fully understood through books, advice, or observation—they must be lived.
In various aspects of life, from personal growth to professional development, experience provides insights that no amount of belief or theoretical understanding can replace. But there's a catch.
Experiences are based on our own perceptions, and unfortunately, technology isn’t advanced enough to let you experience what it’s like to be Tom Cruise. Perception comes from sensation—everything we touch, smell, feel, etc. Therefore, even when facing the same event, different people have different experiences. For example, two siblings may grow up in the same household, but they will have completely different childhoods based on their perceptions.
Based on the videos by Jordan Peterson, "Perception doesn’t decide what you want to see but decides what you see." You can use the Gorilla Experiment to test this phenomenon.
Reference Material:
Perception, Value, and Gorilla | Jordan B. Peterson
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Fatf9HyYpBQ
Gorilla experiment ( inattentional blindness )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo&t=45s
Unteachable Lessons – What Are They?
Unteachable lesson, what are those?
- How painful is a breakup?
- How does it feel to fail despite giving your best effort?
- What is it like to have a child?
- Why is time so valuable?
These are questions that are not easy to answer—or you could say that anyone who answers them could be both right and wrong, depending on their perspective.
These are things that cannot be taught. Yet, professionals, celebrities, and the media are all eager to answer these questions for you. Should you listen to them? And is listening to them always a good thing for you?
If you would like to learn more or discuss additional topics, please scroll to the bottom of this article to the Appendix section. There, I explore this from two perspectives: Neuroscience and Psychology.
Questions for Discussion:
Session I:
Q1. “Belief is a poor substitute for experience.” Do you agree?
Q2. Can you think of a time when you strongly believed something, but experience changed your perspective?
(e.g., love, friendship, success, or personal values)
Q3. How do you think technology affects the value of experience and belief? Since information is widely available online, does it reduce the importance of firsthand experience?
(It most certainly creates some keyboard warriors)
Q4. Have you ever changed the way you look at something, and did it help you? Or did it make things worse?
Session II:
Q1. When someone says, “You’ll understand when you’re older,” do you think it’s possible to learn that lesson beforehand? Why or why not?
Q2. Are there life lessons that society tries to teach too early or too late? How does the timing of learning these lessons affect understanding?
(e.g., the harsh realities of life, relationships, responsibility)
Q3. Have you ever been taught something that you later realized wasn’t entirely true?
Q4. What are some lessons that you believe people should experience for themselves rather than just reading or hearing about them?
Appendix
Neuroscience Perspective
Learning happens through neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself by forming new neural connections. When we encounter new information, different areas of the brain fire up, and over time, repeated activation strengthens these pathways. If you believe that thoughts, emotions, and behaviors all originate from brain activity, then learning—whether from books or experience—is fundamentally about changing the brain’s structure and function.
Two Types of Learning:
1. Learning from Books or Verbal Instruction
• This type of learning is more abstract and conceptual—it engages the prefrontal cortex (for reasoning) and the hippocampus (for memory).
• It provides structured knowledge but is more superficial in the sense that it doesn’t directly involve sensory or motor engagement.
• While it doesn’t create the strongest neural changes on its own, it lays the foundation for deeper understanding when applied.
2. Learning from Experience (Action, Movement, Emotion)
• This type of learning involves motor neurons, the sensory cortex, and emotional centers (like the amygdala), making it more deeply ingrained.
• When you physically do something, like playing an instrument or training in sports, your muscle memory forms through repeated neural activation.
• It also triggers stronger emotional responses—success, failure, frustration, excitement—which amplify dopamine release, reinforcing learning even further.
Since experience engages more brain regions at once, it leads to stronger, longer-lasting neural changes compared to passive reading or listening.
Psychological Perspective: Jung’s Idea of Consciousness and Spiritual Growth
Carl Jung described psychological growth as a process of making the unconscious conscious—choosing to engage with new aspects of life, integrating them into our awareness, and eventually transforming ourselves.
How We Expand Our Consciousness
1. Perception and Awareness
• At first, something might not even exist in your awareness. You don’t notice it because it’s outside of your perception.
• Example: If you’ve never cared about fashion, you don’t notice what people wear. Your brain simply filters it out.
2. Bringing It into Consciousness
• The moment you choose to notice something, it enters your conscious mind.
• This is an active process—you decide that this thing is now relevant to you, and your brain starts paying attention to it.
• Example: You decide you want to improve your style. Suddenly, you start seeing different clothing choices, fashion trends, and noticing what others wear.
3. Internalizing It into the Unconscious
• As you keep engaging with something, it stops feeling “new” and becomes part of you.
• Over time, what was once a conscious effort (thinking about fashion) becomes automatic and intuitive—it moves into the unconscious.
• This is how we develop skills, habits, and even new aspects of our identity.
Agenda:
6:45 ~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:10 ~ 7:45pm Discussion Session (35 mins)
7:45 ~ 8:00pm Summarization (15 mins)
8:00 ~ 8:05pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 5 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:05 ~ 8:40pm Discussion Session (35 mins)
8:40 ~ 8:55pm Summarization (15 mins)
8:55 ~ 9:00pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements
Meeting Date: As shown on the Subject Line
Meeting Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Meeting Venue: 丹堤咖啡 Dante Coffee (Minimum Order $85)
Address: 台北市濟南路三段25號[MAP]-捷運忠孝新生站3號出口步行3分鐘
Important Notes:
1. We suggest that participants read the articles and think about the questions in advance.
2. Newcomers should prepare a two-to-three-minute self-introduction in English to deliver when called upon by the host before the start of the discussion.
3. We welcome newcomers and other guests to attend the meetings and join the discussion freely for three times. After that, we hope you will consider becoming a YoYo English Club member. We charge a NT$1000 lifetime membership fee, or NT$500 for students.
