Is surviving lots of crap the same as having life experience?

They are definitely life experiences. I’m not sure how you are defining “life experience”.
Everyone is different, so their survival of crap will help them through life in different ways. A lot of people who have been abused/gone through very tough life experiences do end up going to school to be counselors. Many tend to have developed a strong sense of empathy which is a big plus.

Yep. That’s pretty much it. And then you die.

“Surviving” is an experience, but whether it is useful to oneself depends on whether one has surpassed it or overcome it. Merely outlasting it does not provide wisdom or insight useful to be a psychiatrist or a judge.

One does not “use it to your advantage” unless one can learn something meaningful out of it.

Your question brought a picture to mind…
The old rat-maze, only for humans. Human-pig experiment. ( My apologies to the Guinea pigs in their little plastic run balls everywhere… )
Two bars to press down for food. One- press and out comes a pellet of food that is so excellent- words can’t describe it.
The second bar, when pressed, gives a strong electric shock and a pellet of the same type of food. Does it taste as wonderful as without the shock?
What if the giant controller of the experiment takes a vacation. Oops. Forgot to fill the food bins for when the bars are pressed.
Which bin runs out first?
What does the human-pig do when the shock accompanies the food- is it worth the unpleasant in order to get the pellet?
Does the human-pig become immune to the shock?
How would the human-pigs in the first group explain it to an incoming second group?
Or can they?
How can one experience something and then try to explain it to another who has not experienced it at all- ever?
Then you have those who love being shocked – who knows why.
What does one do with their own life experiences when it feels a certain way to the one, but may not even be in the realm of another’s experiences or imagination?
Jeeze. Anyone have an aspirin? Ow.

Only if you learned from it.

Some people aren’t so good about the whole “learning” thing.

Pretty much was going to say what @jerv said so well. Sure, everything is “life experience” – the crap and the not-crap – but it’s what you’ve done with it and how you’ve grown that counts.

“Surviving crap” IS life experience.

Yep.

Thanks @all