Not Everything That Is Learned Is Contained in Books

Not everything that is learned is contained in books. Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important, and why?

There is some knowledge gained from life experience that cannot be learned from books. I firmly believe that experience gained from participation in real life situations, far exceeds the knowledge gained from merely reading about it in a book. As the physicist Albert Einstein rightfully said: "Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience." Having said that, what makes experience such a powerful tool for gaining knowledge? This essay aims to contrast gaining knowledge from experience, to that of gaining knowledge from books, and conclude with knowledge gained through experience as being superior.

From the moment we are born, learning is all about gathering experiences from the stimulus exerted on us by our immediate world. This stimulus continues to shape our behaviour throughout the rest of our lives. Mark Twain, an American author, summarised learning from experience in a profound way saying: "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn no other way." Interacting with the world around us involves changing direction of the mind through inputs from our organs sensing sentient matter like taste, touch, sight, smell and sound. The knowledge gained from these sensory experiences would be impossible to assimilate by simply reading about the topic. Even if a pro-golfer wrote a well illustrated book, capturing the essence of being a pro-golfer, it would still be impossible to develop the required motor skills to hit a hole in one on the golf course. Life in essence, is the process of being moulded through a chain of experiences. After all, "practice makes perfect."

On the contrary, it would be impossible to study the relativity theory of Einstein without the help of a plethora of books, explaining the topic in infinite detail. This theoretical knowledge, also shapes the mind as experiences does, but in a completely different way. Learning theoretical knowledge from books, provides the mind with reference material to put the related experiences into context. It would be difficult for human beings to go through all the experiences in person, like for instance a journey to space to gain knowledge in weightlessness, but it would be helpful to read written accounts from astronauts about the effects of weightlessness. Book knowledge is very important when you are studying to become a lawyer or medical doctor for instance. There are many valuable lessons learnt from books which would be impossible to be acquired by experience alone.

Although learning from experience is more valuable than learning from books, the two sources of knowledge cannot function in total isolation. However, I believe, that learning from experience is as important