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Belief vs Experience - What's the difference?

belief | experience |

As nouns the difference between belief and experience

is that belief is mental acceptance of a claim as likely true while experience is experiment, trial, test.

belief

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Mental acceptance of a claim as likely true.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-12-06, author=(George Monbiot)
  • , volume=189, issue=26, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Why I'm eating my words on veganism – again , passage=The belief that there is no conflict between [livestock] farming and arable production also seems to be unfounded: by preventing the growth of trees and other deep vegetation in the hills and by compacting the soil, grazing animals cause a cycle of flash floods and drought, sporadically drowning good land downstream and reducing the supply of irrigation water.}}
  • Faith or trust in the reality of something; often based upon one's own reasoning, trust in a claim, desire of actuality, and/or evidence considered.
  • (countable) Something believed.
  • (uncountable) The quality or state of believing.
  • (uncountable) Religious faith.
  • (in the plural) One's religious or moral convictions.
  • Derived terms

    * * beyond belief * disbelief * self-belief * unbelief

    experience

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Event(s) of which one is cognizant.
  • (label) An activity which one has performed.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
  • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=4 citation , passage=“I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. …”}}
  • (label) A collection of events and/or activities from which an individual or group may gather knowledge, opinions, and skills.
  • (label) The knowledge thus gathered.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}

    Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "experience": broad, wide, good, bad, great, amazing, horrible, terrible, pleasant, unpleasant, educational, financial, military, commercial, academic, political, industrial, sexual, romantic, religious, mystical, spiritual, psychedelic, scientific, human, magical, intense, deep, humbling, unforgettable, unique, exciting, exhilarating.

    Antonyms

    * inexperience

    Derived terms

    * experiential * experience points * experienced

    Verb

    (experienc)
  • To observe certain events; undergo a certain feeling or process; or perform certain actions that may alter one or contribute to one's knowledge, opinions, or skills.
  • Derived terms

    * experienceable