The Battle Between Experience and Books: Which is the Best Teacher?
"Experience is the best teacher," as we have heard all our lives, but then there's also the argument that learning from books may actually be more beneficial. I'll be delving into the comparison between both from my perspective and sharing my thoughts on learning.
It is our innate nature to learn. Our brains are actively taking information from our interactions with people, our environments, and concepts and making connections between new and existing knowledge, even when we are not conscious of it. This is fundamentally the learning process, and it affects every aspect of our lives.
When it comes to experiencing something firsthand and reading about it in books, they both have their unique advantages and disadvantages, and therefore, the better approach will depend on circumstance or individual preferences.
Firsthand Experience
In all my days at the university, one of the most common things I heard amongst my colleagues—and even said myself—is that we keep learning abstractly and never really get the point of visualizing concepts when we could see them for ourselves and learn that way. Our argument was that it is more effective to learn by "practicalizing" the idea, especially since we were engineering students. Imagine programming a machine without the machine itself or a computer—just by hand.
Many things never really "added up" for me, but I just kept learning that way—going with the flow, you know—so I didn't fail. It wasn't until certain times when I had the opportunity to actually experience some of these concepts that I truly understood them.
I had the opportunity to learn at an automation academy for a couple of months. In the first few days there, I unexpectedly felt like a total noob. Everything looked so damn cool, with all the machine controllers (nothing like PS controllers) and all the wires and lights and components. I had read about all this stuff in school, but I really never knew how to use it per se. On my first day, in fact, I used the wrong notations for an electrical diagram—because "I thought they meant the same thing." My boss was in awe.
With time, I started getting acquainted with the concept of automation better as I practically learned to build systems and write programs. I even toured round the world going for jobs...as the errand boy and apprentice. XD.
This is not anyway me trying to blame the education system and absolve myself of my ignorance, even though it's not in anyway perfect. The point here is that experiencing the concepts firsthand was a much more effective learning process.
Book Smart
Experience is the best teacher, but it really doesn't say it has to be my experience. There are certain firsthand experiences one wouldn't want to have, like heartbreak. One could just live vicariously through others and gain long-life wisdom. It is why we have books today.
There are many ways we could take this flight, but let's stick with dealing with people.
"If you can't be sure 55% of the time, why should you tell other people that they are wrong?" is a powerful statement by Dale Carnegie that has rung in my head for weeks since I first read it. It reminds me to be cautious and never tell anyone, "You are wrong."
Telling a person that they're wrong, whether literally or not, sure is a way of making enemies. This is because that message simply implies to the recipient that their cognitive reasoning is inferior, which is a heavy stab at their sense of self-importance. They could resent you for it.
Of course, it logically adds up, but I never looked at it in that manner until I read about everything Dale taught in his book. He taught about how to avoid it and also better ways to handle situations when the other person is truly wrong.
For example, consider that I work for Elon Musk. Imagine that in one of our meetings he makes a technical mistake with the parameters of the new model of a Tesla vehicle we are designing, and as the boy that developed the parameters, I tell him, "Sir, it's nickel-metal and not lithium-ion for the batteries." I could as well consider myself fired soon—not for being right but for making my boss look stoopid. Allow me to dream that I work for Tesla vehicles.
In his book alone, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," I have learned how to interact with people better. Of course, it is sensible to know better than to correct your boss. The point here is that, rather than having to make such a mistake and learn firsthand from such experience, I have learned before hand.
There are things that are better experienced by oneself, as it may provide a much deeper level of understanding. And there is a wider range of information if one is learning through books.
All in all, the "best" way to learn depends on many factors. Learning by firsthand experience is more immersive, and learning through books is more abstract. Yet, they are both effective methods of learning.
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