Two guys climb into a 'plane. They take off, climb and engage the autopilot.
5 hours later they wake up, disengage the autopilot and land.
One guy can log the time. One cannot. Go figure.
Experience is something that is held in high regard - in flying its about numbers in a logbook, for your car insurance its about how long you have been driving - both of which are quantitative rather than qualitative.
In short, its not how much experience you have but what you learned from that experience that matters.
The biggest difference for me between passing my CPL checkride and my first thousand hours wasn't that my flying skills got much better (pick ups and set downs will probably never be better than when you are a student or CFI) but that I became much more comfortable in the aircraft, meaning that I now devote a fraction of my concentration to flying leaving a lot more brain free, making for better ADM and situational awareness, which i believe is the key to becoming a safer pilot.
Any time you spend in a cockpit - looking at guages, sight pictures, listening to comms, judging approaches good or bad - adds to your experience
Whether or not you log it is a matter for your conscience.