Gaining Knowledge from Experience

797 Words2 Pages

Each day throughout life people learn more about themselves and about the world around them. It is everyone’s goal to acquire as much knowledge as they can because it generally leads to satisfaction in their life. Experience allows to better understand oneself and the surrounding world. Faust and Michel Montaigne highlight the importance of learning from experiences and what occurs without this learning. Because of their work, learning through experiences is known to be very effective and therefore is incorporated into many teaching techniques. Gaining knowledge from experiences helps to unlock parts of the world. In his book “Faust”, Faust focuses on how experiences, or lack of experiences, shape the surrounding world. Faust studies and becomes an expert on all that he can but yet he is still not satisfied. He says he has mastered “Philosophy…and law and medicine…theology too, from A to Z…no wiser now than when I began” (Goethe 15). Although Faust gained as much information as he could from texts, he was actually quite ignorant in regards to the real world. He did not live and enjoy life because he did not live through experiences. Instead he secluded himself from the world. He failed to apply his knowledge and in return failed to gain new knowledge from these circumstances. Because of this he was never fully satisfied. This shows the importance of finding a balance between book learning and learning from experiences. Lessons and information gained through experiences are the most effective and most powerful. Teachings through experiences cannot be replaced or mimicked and therefore serve significantly in human development and overall happiness. Experiences also help one learn more about themselves. Certain situations cannot ... ... middle of paper ... ...more complete, which is the common goal of liberal art schools. The most valuable lessons in life often come unexpected and in situations that cannot be reenacted. Gaining knowledge about the world and about oneself comes from living life through successes and failures. These events cannot be duplicated, which is why experience serves as so influential in regards to a person’s development. Intelligence can be acquired from books, studies and school, but if a person solely relies on this, they will feel a void in their life. Successful people are well rounded and this is why many colleges and schools focus on teaching lessons through actual experiences, instead of books and lectures. Life is about living and people should realize this. The world has many lessons to teach individuals about themselves and their surroundings, and experiences are at the root of it all.

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