Human experience can be divided into two types: external and internal. External experience refers to the things we have experienced (to what extent), while internal experience refers to the experiences within our hearts, which can be called "spiritual experience". External experience is generally related to age. The older we are, the more things we have experienced, and the richer our experience is. However, the correlation between spiritual experience and age is not as high. Some people may be young and have not experienced many things, but their spiritual experience can be very rich. Zhu Bajie ate ginseng fruit without knowing its taste, which is clearly not on the same level as the sentimental Lin Daiyu. If they were to fall in love, the former may not have the same depth of inner feelings and experiences even after ten times of dating compared to the latter's one time. Some people have experienced many things, but they are only external experiences and have no impact on their spiritual world.
Some people's hearts are like iron balls, while others are like dough. When they roll on the ground, the pits and traces left on the surface are their "spiritual experiences". Even if they experience the same thing (rolling on the ground), the "spiritual experiences" gained by the iron ball and the dough are different. What is the reason? It lies in their different sensitivities. However, if the iron ball rolls far more times than the dough, it can also gain more "spiritual experiences" than the dough. From this, we can deduce the following formula: Spiritual experience ∝ Experiences × Sensitivity of the heart, which means that spiritual experience is directly proportional to experiences and the sensitivity of the heart. Sensitivity is the key, as it transforms experiences into spiritual experiences.
When observing a person, it is not only important to consider how many things they have experienced, but also to pay attention to their internal spiritual experiences. This is something that takes time to manifest in interpersonal communication because the spiritual world is not always visible externally.
There was once a belief that in order to become a writer, one must have a rich (external) life experience. However, I believe this is not entirely true. While a rich (external) experience can be a favorable factor and a bonus for writing, it is not a necessary condition. For example, Zhang Ailing became a writer at a young age without much (external) life experience. Similarly, Franz Kafka and Fernando Pessoa worked as clerks in fixed positions throughout their lives, remained unmarried, and had uncomplicated love experiences. One could say that their life experiences were quite simple, but this did not hinder them from becoming outstanding writers. Becoming a writer does not necessarily require a rich (external) life experience, but it does have rigid requirements for internal spiritual experiences. Even with rich external experiences, if they cannot be transformed into internal spiritual experiences, they are meaningless. People with strong sensitivity have an innate advantage in writing, while those with less sensitivity can compensate for it by experiencing more. In any case, a rich spiritual experience is necessary.
According to the formula mentioned above, there are two ways to expand spiritual experiences: experiencing more things, including indirect experiences from others, and enhancing the sensitivity of the heart. Regarding the sensitivity of the heart, at least two factors can influence it.
One is repetition. I have mentioned in the article "Repetition and Feelings" that "a person's senses and soul are like a sophisticated instrument. The more they are repeatedly stimulated, the more worn out they become, and their sensitivity and responsiveness will decrease. One way to remedy this severe wear and tear is to pause and switch to a different type of stimulus for a while, and then switch back after some time. This will allow their sensitivity and responsiveness to recover."
Another factor is memory. Memory is the result of wear and tear on the instrument of the soul, or it can be seen as the pits and traces left on the iron ball or dough after rolling on the ground. Old memories can hinder the emergence of new feelings. Why are children or young people more sensitive and perceptive, while as they grow older, they gradually become dull and numb? It is because they have not experienced many things and have very few memories about life. Therefore, theoretically, if a person can forget or eliminate some memories and return to the state of childhood memories, will their sensitivity of the heart also be restored to that state?