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Knowledge gained from books and knowledge gained from experience

How does one acquire knowledge? Some people think that books give us knowledge. Some others believe we acquire knowledge from experience. While both help us gain knowledge, experience is a better teacher in certain ways.

Learning from experience is learning through reflection on doing, and, obviously this does not happen when we read a book. Research has proven that lessons of experience last longer because they involve learning through feeling or doing or both. For example, for a person who wants to learn to swim, a lesson in the swimming pool by an instructor will be far more effective than a chapter on how to swim in a book. It is because at the swimming pool, the person is learning by doing. For instance, while the book can tell the readers that deeper regions of the pool pose a high risk to a learner, a brief visit to such regions with necessary safety measures in place enables the learner to feel or understand how intense that risk is. Thus, experiential learning has deeper effect on the learner than learning from a book.

The information given in books is not always complete or based on credible evidence. Fallacious information could mislead people and can lead to serious effects when used in research. Famous American philosopher Alex Rosenberg says “Narrative history is always, always wrong”. And, for example, if two astronauts are to describe their problem-solving experiences during a lunar mission, in a book, we can expect them to intentionally leave out certain experiences where they failed very badly. But, whereas, experiential learning is based on empirical evidence, wherein the people learn by observing things happening before their eyes. Therefore, in terms of credibility, experiential learning has a definite advantage over learning from books.

Knowledge from books cannot provide solutions to problems that people face in day- to-day life. Each day brings with it a new or unique set of challenges, and, obviously, these have not been covered in books. Though there are many books on commonly known problems, in real life situations, these problems are based on an interplay of geographical, economic, social, and cultural factors. Thus, the solutions to two such problems can never be the same. So, it is only from the experience of going these problems we find ways to deal with them effectively.

To sum up, while books helps us gain knowledge on various subjects, the knowledge one gains from experience is effective and leaves a lasting effect on us. Further, unlike it is the case with some books, the knowledge one acquires through experience is credible. Experience is more helpful than books in dealing with complex life problems.