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Books Are The Best Sources of Knowledge

The document argues that knowledge gained from personal experiences is more valuable than knowledge from books for two reasons: First, books are not always accurate and can contradict real-world experiences, as demonstrated by the author's trip to Sokovia which contradicted outdated guidebooks. Second, knowledge from personal experiences is remembered longer than knowledge from books. The author remembers a trip to Europe vividly from years ago but can only recall a few books from university a decade later. Personal experiences create stronger, longer-lasting memories than temporary academic knowledge from reading.

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Phúc Trung
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135 views2 pages

Books Are The Best Sources of Knowledge

The document argues that knowledge gained from personal experiences is more valuable than knowledge from books for two reasons: First, books are not always accurate and can contradict real-world experiences, as demonstrated by the author's trip to Sokovia which contradicted outdated guidebooks. Second, knowledge from personal experiences is remembered longer than knowledge from books. The author remembers a trip to Europe vividly from years ago but can only recall a few books from university a decade later. Personal experiences create stronger, longer-lasting memories than temporary academic knowledge from reading.

Uploaded by

Phúc Trung
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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“Books are the best sources of knowledge”

Nowadays, there are many ways for people to learn about the
world. While some people believe that books are a fountain of knowledge for
people to absorb eveyday, I suppose that the knowledge we gain from our
personal experiences is more important than what we learn from printed
sources. I feel this way for two main reasons, which I will explore in the
following essay.

First of all, books are not always accurate and often


contradict what we find in the real world. This is a result of the fact that
books are often written by unqualified authors, but also because even
respected and trained academics have biases and personal shortcomings.
Even if a diligent professor writes a book with the best intentions and tries to
avoid factual errors, his research might be faulty as a result of major shifts in
world affairs. My own experience visiting the Republic of Sokovia several
years ago is a perfect example of this. Before I took my trip, I read a great
number of textbooks, articles and guide books about the region. All of these
informed me that Sokovia was a very conservative place, and suggested that
the people there might be unwelcoming. However, when I actually arrived, I
encountered a very welcoming, progressive culture. Though the books I
consulted were only a few years old, they were wholly out of date and did not
match my personal experience. This example demonstrates some of the
problems with depending too much on books for our knowledge.

Secondly, the knowledge we gain from personal


experiences stays with us longer than things we read. We often put books
away and forget about them after we read them. For example, I was a
university student for four years and I read hundreds of books during that
time. However, it is now a decade since my graduation and I can only
remember just a few of those books. The rest of them all blend together and
the knowledge I gained at the time is lost to me now. In contrast, I still
have very vivid memories of the aforementioned trip to Europe. What I
learned there about culture, people and society is burned into my memory
and I will never forget it. This is because I had a personal connection to my
trip, while I had only a temporary academic connection to my university
studies.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that knowledge gained from


experiences is more important than knowledge gained from reading books.
This is because books are sometimes inaccurate, and because our personal
memories stay with us longer than the facts we read about in print.

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