Yeah, nothing convinces like direct experience, but that doesn't mean it can (or should) convince anyone else...unless they know you very well and have a great deal of confidence in your judgement.

It's like some born-again Christian telling me about how he was "saved" and urging me to join his church and get saved too. Well, obviously he had what for him was a meaningful experience, but to me it's just a story from someone who could be partly right, partly wrong, or entirely wrong. In such cases, I look to my own gut feeling as the only indicator I can really go on...since there is no viable means of seeking what is termed "empirical evidence" about it. One other thing, though...I would observe that person over a peroid of time and see what his general conduct indicated too...as that is a sort of evidence worth considering.

- LH