Free Argument Essays: Knowledge Vs. Experience

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” (Kierkegaard). In the great debate of “Knowledge vs Experience”, each side of the story has its pros and cons when applied to the real world. Where knowledge allows its user to recall vast amounts of information about any learned subject, it fails to be able to apply that information quickly in the real world. Conversely, with experience, there is generally a lack of information from the get-go, however the lessons learned from actually experiencing a situation can be applied to further real life situations, and so forth. If I had to choose between living with solely knowledge or experience, personally I would have to pick experience over knowledge, due to its ability to have its lessons applied to later situations in the real world. In one of Tao of Pooh’s first chapters, titled “Spelling Tuesday”, the narrator brings into question the Taoist belief of direct experience trumping over learned knowledge. Hoff recalls a conversation between the knowledgeable Owl and simpleminded Pooh, where Pooh mishears the words “customary procedure” as “Crustimoney Proseedcake”, and claiming the Big Words as confusing (28). The narrator goes on to deduct that scholars, such as Owl, use the intimidating sounding words to appear Superior and intelligent (28). This is a case where knowledge appears to triumph over experience, however, experienced people find this hard to understand because the fact-based knowledge does not line up with their own experiences of
As with any great debate, each side has its own pros and cons, which makes it tough to choose a side. I have always leaned towards the side of experience personally, but reading Benjamin Hoff’s Tao of Pooh has helped me to understand the real beauty in the Taoist belief leading a life of experience, and its copious benefits over a knowledgeable