There really is no substitution for direct experience, as without prior intimate contact with a given activity or phenomenon, one's field of perception contains greater elements of doubt, uncertainty, and potentiality in respect to that activity or phenomenon, which make for an entirely different experiential landscape - that of the unknown and unverified - than that of visceral certitude, which reaches down into one's instincts and one's body.
The modalities of the known and certain and then of the unknown and uncertain have their own respective worlds of action, inaction, consideration, and contemplation. Individuals may have their own characters which contain more elements of a given modality, which predisposes them to a greater strength in a given modality, but it depends on one's areas of interest and expertise as well.
Both modalities - and everything in between - have their own place, and corresponding uses and benefits. Which shouldn't be a problem for someone more immune to imperial and hubristic tendencies.
