Which is more important source for learning,books or experience?
By hongqistreet
@hongqistreet (321)
China
October 19, 2008 6:48am CST
Many people spend much on books in order to learn new things.I admit book is a good teacher.We can learn much knowledge from books.By reading books,we can know how to speak and write and understand mathematical equations.Those are basic information we need in our life.But we cann't learn anything in books.There are also some ohter ways for studying,such as experience.
In my opinion,experience is a better teacher.Beacuse the most important things cann't be taught,but have to be experienced.No book can teach you how to get along well wiht others and have self-respect;As we grow from children into teenager,no book can teach us how to deal with pressure;After we leave adolescence behind,entry into adult life,no book can teach us how to fall in love and get married.So there are a lot of things we cann't learn from books.But this shouldn't stop us from looking for guideline in our life.We could ask for others' advices who have similar experience with us.if we experienced one problem,we would know how to deal with it in similar situations next time.
Nowadays,more and more students are beginning to take part time jobs.By taking part time jobs,they can gain new experience and learn new skills which they'll never be able to learn from textbooks.That will keep them in a benefical position in job market in the future.So i think experienc is the best teacher.What about you?
7 people like this
43 responses
@undecoverbro (96)
• India
19 Oct 08
As far as im concerned its the experiance that counts anyone can learn anything but when that person is asked to perform the job by looking at a book or a manual it is higly difficult and hard to do it . Its like u have a manual to make a new engine from scrath and u have all the components ready but how far will u go to finish that new engine that is given in the manula however if u as a mechanicn or an suto engineer to make that new engine he would be able to do it without even looking at the manual and he would finish it faster than the one who has no experiance and his work would be more perfect that a guy with no experiance.
1 person likes this
@luckymeow (33)
• Thailand
19 Oct 08
When I want to learning something new, the first step is find the source of knowledge such as book , CD or the guru.
But I'll never know that the knowledge I've got is work for real until I've done it myself.
I've tried and I failed. I've tried again and again, and I can done my work.
Now I've experience and I write it down and use it as learning source for my team.
So... experience is the best teacher, but learning source is make it easier to get the experience.
1 person likes this
@hongqistreet (321)
• China
20 Oct 08
i agree with you.once you tried,you would know how to deal with it.
1 person likes this
@mikeysmom (2088)
• United States
19 Oct 08
i honestly feel that life experience is the better teacher. you can read about something but you cannot really sympathize unless you experience something. having experienced something first hand you can remember what it felt like and how bad or good you felt. if it was a bad experience hopefully it is enough to keep you from making that mistake again. if it is good you want to repeat it over and over. do not get me wrong, books are great for so many reasons. it enhances ones vocabulary and allows us to "experience" things we may never get a chance to otherwise and we can learn so much. but to me, hands on is so much more.
1 person likes this
@carmela0210 (1591)
• Philippines
20 Oct 08
i could say more on experience!!!it would be better to know things learn on things from the experience cause there are lots of lessons which you could learn from your experience!!!
1 person likes this
@natsvelascotan (665)
• Philippines
20 Oct 08
I agree, I think that no matter how you try to understand something conceptually, nothing beats experiencing it for yourself. There's no harm in reading about things you want to learn about at taking cues from other persons experiences as well
1 person likes this
@chandan_narayan (25)
• India
19 Oct 08
according to me both are important.books provide theoritical knowledge and experience provides practical knowledge.
1 person likes this
@sweetgirl_k1 (3972)
• United States
27 Oct 08
I think reading books does teach you things. But I think getting the experience is better. If you get the experience then you kinda understand more and you know what to do next time or you know what not to do next time. There are some things in life that you can't learn from books just like you stated. They can only be learned from experience.
@dhedows118 (891)
• Philippines
19 Oct 08
For me, experience is the best teacher in the world but it does not mean that you have to experience all the thing before you learn. You don't have to get hurt to know that certain things will cause you harm. You can also learn from the experience of others as long as you know what is the lesson on each and everyone's experience.
Books does not offer all the things you need to know and sometimes or other books offer wrong informations. It's all up to you or us to weight what to believe or not. It all depends on our sense of analysis.
1 person likes this
@zhaosonghan (1039)
• China
19 Oct 08
We learn knowledge from book in the school or books store,i think all of this are just a provision for living,after you run into real society you will get more experience from it,and this knowledge you don't learn from any books.They are both important.
1 person likes this
@UtopianIdealist (1604)
• United States
10 Dec 08
Some people can learn nothing from experience, while still others can read/study and absorb nothing. I think it is whatever is best for that individual.
@neftari1 (31)
•
21 Oct 08
Hi there hongqistreet. I don't think you can say either one is more important. They each have their own contribution to learning. I believe it is best to use everything that is available to you and take what it has to offer. You can never have too much knowledge
@fantasyniao (7)
• China
22 Oct 08
I don't think experience is more important than books.Somebody should say, the knowledge we have learned from books is not all useful for our future life.Yes,I almost forgot some subject we learned in high school,like chymistry,biology.But what we have learned from books is not only the knowledge but also the method how to learn.In some sense,the latter can be called experience.
@derek_a (10874)
•
20 Oct 08
I believe in reading to expand the mind, but I also believe strongly that experience is a more powerful teacher. But all too often reading a book can point to an experience that you wouldn't otherwise have. I believe that some people live very much in the beliefs they have had from books, but then can see a powerful difference when they have actually experienced for themselves, something they had read about. So it's good to experience reading!... :-)
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
20 Oct 08
Hi hongqistreet, Before the word education became popularized many people referred to it as book learning, but of course education is much more than that. I believe you are right in saying that experience is the better teacher. Who among us has not been a better teacher, businessperson, mechanic etc after working in the profession or trade for a number of years? As you say too, there is so much that we can't learn from books. Most people, even those who don't go beyond high school are well educated by the time they reach fifty. What we learn from books is of course necessary but education gives us the tools to learn much more as we experience life outside the classroom. Blessings.
@littleowl (7157)
•
21 Oct 08
For me it is experience rather than books.
1) I find it easier to learn by experience
2) Books are for me to hard to remember what it is all sayng and doesn't 'show' me how or what to do with whatever I may be learning
3) I take things in rather by being talked to and told about the subject,as well as experiencing it firsthand
littleowl
@Annmac (949)
•
20 Oct 08
I think books give you knowledge and can teach you how things work or how to do things in a certain way. Sometimes a book can teach you something that you may never experience in your daily life. I know I'll never live with a wolf pack but by reading a book by someone who has I've been able to learn how the pack behaves. Following a book is the path to learning, doing whatever you are trying to learn will strengthen that initial learning. Doing something one way but then experimenting also allows you to learn other ways of doing it.
What they can't teach you is life-skills. They can't tell you how to cope with the good or bad things that may happen. All they can do is explain how other people have got through similar experiences. We are too individual for any one way to be right. We need then to learn what ways work better for us.
Yes experiencing something and doing it yourself will teach you more than any book but we can still learn more by reading books than by ignoring them.
@sdmoonchild (731)
• United States
20 Oct 08
I think life is the best teacher. Life in general can teach a person many things whether it would be in a direct or indirect way. the best lessons come from those that are free-life is one of them.
@tjpad1 (5)
• United States
20 Oct 08
I think that both books and experience are important for learing most things. Books are good for learning information, but after learning hte information experience is necessary. Experience is definitely more important, but books are also necessary.
