The Value of Experience. Entry Two.

What I am trying to do is to identify a common methodology which people use to handle the experiences they undergo.

Ok, I am actually basing this observation on one particular sample, that is myself. But guess everyone would process their experiences with some degree of similarity to me.

A World Model
Guess what happens is that everyone has his view of the world, a model which he uses to explain the phenomena occuring around him. And every experience he goes through, he would compare what he observes with the model he has. Most times, his experience should not vary very much from this model. But when the model is incapable of explaining what he is experiencing, such a situation would be considered shocking.

I myself have experienced periods of times when my model of the world couldn't explain my observation of it. It occured each time I entered a drastically different phase of life. Like when I entered army, going overseas to study, and each time I switched school. The more drastic a change it was, the less the model of my world then could explain the new observations.

Why would we need our model of the world to fit observations? It's because we inevitably have to make decisions, and we base our decisions on the model we have constructed based on our past experiences. We then run simulations of the various options we have available, in order to attempt to predict what is the best course of action to take. And when this model appears to fail us, we then have nothing more concrete to base our actions on, and thus feel vulnerable.