The Necessity of Experience

by Edward S. Reed

Primary experience, gained through the senses, is our most basic way of understanding reality and learning for ourselves. Our culture, however, favors the indirect knowledge gained from secondary experience, in which information is selected, modified, packaged, and presented to us by others. In this controversial book, Edward S. Reed warns that secondhand experience has become so dominant in our technological workplaces, schools, and even homes that primary experience is endangered. Reed calls for a better balance between firsthand and secondhand experience, particularly in our social institutions. He contends that without opportunities to learn directly, we become less likely to think and feel for ourselves.

Since the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, Western epistemological tradition has rejected primary experience in favor of the abstractions of secondhand experience. Building on James Gibson's concept of ecological psychology, Reed offers a spirited defense of the reality and significance of ordinary experience against both modernist and postmodernist critics. He expands on the radical critiques of work, education, and art begun by William Morris and John Dewey, offering an alternative vision of meaningful learning that places greater emphasis on unmediated experience, and he outlines the psychological, cultural, and intellectual conditions that will be needed to foster that crucial change.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Nature, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 1996

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ideas presented in this book continue to rise back up to the surface of my thoughts and ideas in daily life. The author speaks of primary experience, those which we can perceive with our senses, as being the foundation for developing understanding and knowledge of the world we live it. While that does not seem like an extreme statement in any way, the books clearly shows how cultural processes are diluting the importance of these primary experiences. While the devaluing of primary experience may not be the single most signification problem of our age, the author argues that it affects every problem we face. The devaluing of primary experience is a core but subtle issue that struggles to find it's way to daily dialogues. Published in 1996, I think the message is even more evident in 2019, where so much engagement and expression of life is funneled through the phone or the computer (I'll add books as well, though I find them to be a different class). These mechanisms inherently abstract and filter primary experience.
The book and the author's voice picked up in the third chapter. That's when I started to buy in and see how this all applies to me, how it applies to everyone. My attempt to summarize the underlying message follows; actively engage in the world in front of you, be present, and value the understanding that comes from that engagement. There is a lot more behind this reduction, but you can find those detail in the book.
For as valuable as a text it is, it is not one I would recommend to everyone. It feels relatively specialized, and I think it would only resonate with those who are actively seeking a different perspective of the world. Still, it's up on my list of great books for providing so many thoughts and deepening my understanding of the world.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ed Reed's challenge to our current postmodern assumptions is extremely powerful and well worth a read. This book feels like the philosophical addendum to his earlier work "Encountering the World: Toward an Ecological Psychology". As such it feels somewhat incomplete, but in my mind even Reed's faults are perfection. Reed breaks down the Cartesian underpinnings of both mind/body duality and subjective perception and makes a strong argument for primary experience. His assessment of education and work is on point and powerful arguing that the meaninglessness we feel in school and at work is because both have been designed largely to suppress primary experience which I think is very close to accurate. By the end, however, I feel as if there is little practical application other than to be more aware of the ecological information around in your environment.

Readers can feel the age of this book. It communicates the concerns and anxieties of the mid-1990s. I wonder what Ed Reed would make of the (stereotypical) millennials who forgo corporate employment to strike it out on their own in some niche entrepreneurial scheme. Millenials stereotypically bemoan the meaninglessness of work. Perhaps, in reaction to the meaningless of work, they are fulfilling Ed Reed's ideal by seeking experience over profit. On a counterpoint, having read this book while in quarantine during a pandemic, Reed's concerns regarding technology feel overblown when it is technology that is allowing us to access our social lives in a way we have never experienced before, with much of the sight and sound-related ecological information intact.

Nonetheless, if I could rate this book 6/5 I would. It is an incredibly important read.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept of ecological psychology is critically important to understand in an age where secondary experience is overwhelmingly present in our lives. E.S. Reed succinctly and radically explains the degradation of contemporary society by elucidating the difference between primary and secondary experiences and why/how each should be utilized. His analysis, written in the 90s, is especially necessary today -- the kaleidoscopic effect of secondary experience in the form of social media and the availability of information on the internet further proves his points about television/montage. By incorporating the arguments of realists and pragmatists of philosophy, namely John Dewey and William Morris, E.S. Reed bolsters his argument for necessary and fulfilling work, education, and the necessity of respect for the experiences of others. This is the most important book of social critique I've ever read.

[Feldenkrais Interest]

Zoran's recommended reading SEAUS3 Segment 2

[YOYO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!