Soul Evolution

The following excerpt from the Charles Darwin chapter of the book Talking with the Leaders of the Past explains soul evolution very well.

Charles Darwin (from spirit):

The energy that a new soul has is all of the knowledge of all of the souls that exist, but it does not have the wisdom that can be gleaned from the knowledge, because it has not had any experience. It is like a person who watches a rugby match, who knows all the rules and regulations, knows all about the scoring, and may even know all the dirty tricks, yet until they engage in the game, they will not feel it and it will not become part of them. So the new soul at Home has the knowledge, but no the wisdom of what it feels like, what it can accomplish, how the soul can expand within that knowledge.

So the soul learns by coming down to Earth?
The important part of the equation is Earth, because it's the physical experience which turns the knowledge into wisdom. It is like apprentices first using their studies in a practical manner.

Why do we need the physical experience?
All Souls at Home (spiritual realm) live in the energy of unconditional love, where everything, as you would say, is perfect. If you are blind and you never see the light, you do not know how fantastic colors are. If you are deaf and never hear, you do not know of the magnificence of an orchestration. You can theoretically understand it, but you have to experience for it to become a part of you.

Excerpt from Talking with Leaders of the Past by Peter Watson Jenkins and Toni Ann Winninger
http://www.celestialvoicesinc.com/content/view/12/27/