R books better teachers or is experience a better teacher?

by **Pentayya** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 12:59 am

I cannot decide, that\'s y i started the board. Help me out ppl.

by **Pentayya** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:02 am

If books can teach us well then can we read a manual and set up an item without actually operating on it? Experiencing it is a must. And if experience is a better teacher then how can we experience the lives of great men,from which we learn so much? We just have to read abt. them!

by **Z C** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 4:59 pm

Experience is the *** teacher- Swami Vivekananda. i forgot wat is ***. what ever is written in books is what has been understood by the author. Just take any topic, why are there several authors ? unless its as simple as 1+1 = 2, i dont trust a book !!

by **This and That** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:10 pm

I call this the \"great-teacher-syndrome\" - many of the students who are enamored by the \"teachine style\" of their teacher dont really understand the subject taught. That is the major risk with teachers. The student should be careful not to idolise the teacher and just try to understand the words spoken rather than give too much importance to the white hair or the grand dress or the mannerisms. If we are careful in observing ourselves while the listening goes on and consciously avoid any bias because of the presence of the teacher in questioning and critically examining and understanding what we hear then teachers are as good as books. Books luckily permit you to think and interpret in your own way and understand in your own way. What do u think?

by **mrk** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 3:18 pm

Experience is a better teacher

by **Bhava** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 5:09 pm

In which book did you read that?

by **mrk** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 11:41 am

In my life experience book.

by **Anil** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 6:43 pm

Experience is always a better teacher than books. Take a very simple example. A child who has not yet started reading any books still understands the difference between what is hot and what is cold. The child learns this from previous experience(s) of accidentally touching a hot object and realising that it hurts. Some may call it as instincts. But these are cultivated instincts generated out of repeated exposure, in other words, experience. There are numerous skilled workers (craftsmen) who can create wonderful statues from stone. They never learnt these skills from any book, per se. However, we shouldn\'t underestimate the value of books. After all as ZC aptly mentioned a majority of books are nothing but a compilation of the author\'s experiences. Even for things which we learn through books, the real worth can be appreciated only when we experience them. For instance, during our surgery classes we were taught in a very systematic way (take an incision here, these vessels will bleed, apply torniquet, check the patient\'s heart rate, blah, blah) but when we actually started the surgery in real life situtaions, wow! Everything looked like a mayhem initially. Well, the books did serve as a foundation on which the practical experience served as a very useful adjunct.

by **mrk** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 12:34 pm

Fine anil, I appreciate you and your brief message. Adding to your point, books are the authors\' experiences. Reading books without experience is like reading about the cricket game and not experiencing it by playing.

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