Experience is the best teacher

The title suggest that "book-learning is all right as far as it goes, but
success in life goes to the practical man of affairs rather than tot he
lofty theorist." Such ideas are certainly given the color of truth by the
undoubted fact that the successful politician goes further on
shrewdness than on political theory, and the rich businessman further
on practical ability than on the degree in economics. If success in life is
to be measured in terms of money, power and position, it is the
practical man who succeeds most often. Experience has taught him
when to buy and when to sell, whom to trust and whom to suspect,
whom to make friends with and whom to ignore.

The title also suggests that we tend to take more notice of the lessons
of life than the lessons of our teachers in school. This is undoubtedly
true! Children are naturally lazy and inattentive because a failure in
class doesn't seem to matter very much -- at least at the time. After
all, there is always the security of home. But, when a man comes to
have his own home with payments falling due and hungry mouths to
feed, he is afraid to be inattentive to his job because he may lose it.
Harsh experience teaches him to be his best, because if he fails, he
knows his employers will not be sentimental about the needs of his
family.

And again, the title suggests many spheres of adult activity in which,
although a little theory is obviously necessary, practical experience
alone can achieve results a learner-driver can easily learn the
mechanics of driving a motor car in the classroom and be able to
answer any question, but with all his theoretical knowledge, he (or
she) is bound to be nervous the first time out on the road alone --
even when the driving-test has been successfully passed. Only
experience can teach the new driver to cope with the speed of the
hurly-burly of the city roads.

Marriage, also, is said to be 'a lottery'. Some mutual thoughts can

perhaps, bring together partners who are likely to be happy, but
experience really counts in marriage more than anything else. No two
people can live happily and successfully together before they have
learned by experience how to strengthen their bonds and break down
their barriers.
Many occupations also demand a maximum of experience, given a
minimum of theoretical knowledge. The salesman goes to shops and
private houses with a good theoretical knowledge but experience has
to teach him to make friends, what selling line to take, and how to
avoid offence. Many a job depends entirely on practice and experience.
the shoemaker, the goldsmith, the tailor, the fisherman -- all these
and hundreds like them learn their skills by practice, by trial and error,
and often serve a long apprenticeship to their trade. Even the soldier
in battle learns the art of jungle-warfare better in action, when his life
may depend on his decisions, than in the jungle-warfare school.

All the same, we must be careful not to regard experience as the only
teacher. There are indeed certain subjects concerning which practical
knowledge is either impossible, or beside the point, or completely
dependent on theoretical knowledge. The astronaut is the practical
man of space-travel, but he is merely the 'Guinea-pig' of the scientist
in actual fact, doing precisely as he is told by men whose practical
experience has never been extended outside the university lecture-
room. In fact, in the approaching age of science, technology and
automation, theoretical knowledge will be at a premium, while
practical experience diminishes in importance.

Again, nobody's individual experience can ever be regarded as

complete. We must inevitably draw on the experience of others for
success in any worthwhile occupation. after all, theoretical knowledge
is in reality no more than the accumulated experience of other people.
While such textbook knowledge will have been sufficient in itself, the
man who fails to use it merely, makes matters harder for himself. The
usual process with theory is that we learn at school rather reluctantly
-- and then refer back to it when experience teaches us its value and
the less well the theory has been learnt at school, the harder this
becomes in later life. Experience is no doubt the best teacher, but it is
foolish to scorn the classroom.

From your own experience, how would you define

the pleasures of reading?
As a very small boy, the first pleasure I had from reading was being
able to crow oversome of my peers who couldn't. I became less of a
little snob as I grew up. At every stage, of course, the reader finds
different sources of pleasure. As a child, as far as I can remember, I
looked for interest, fantasy and a good laugh. Up to the age of eight or
nine, children seem to live in a world of half fantasy and half reality.
Many enjoy situations in which adults are outwitted. Thus, popular
comics were Dandy, Beano and Rainbow, and not
the sobersidesChildren's Newspaper. The Richmal Crompton 'William'
books were great favorites. So was Enid Blyton. Adventure was found
in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and R L Stevenson. Crime detection meant
Sherlock Homes. Mystery and horror were supplied by writers such as
Bram Stoker and Wilkie Collins. In more modern times, there seems to
be little significant change, except that Superman, E.T. and space
travel yarns have been added.

The common factor in most of this is that the child and young person
can pick up a book and escape from the humdrum into a new world of
excitement, sometimes identifying with the hero or heroine. Girls tend
to favor school stories and, later, magazine romances and romantic
novels, taste for the latter often lasting well into adult life.

The attraction of escapism, modified of course by experience, lasts into

later life. Most adults enjoy a detective story for relaxation. The
murder or crime concerned is rarely dealt with psychologically. It is
merely the peg on which to hang the clues leading to the final solution.
The best of such stories also develop character to some extent and
reflect the social back- ground of the years in which the novel is set.
Thus, the pleasure of reading, say Agatha Christie, is partly nostalgia
and partly mental exercise. Emotion plays a negligible part.

Another genre of books written for pleasure and relaxation is the

humorous novel, represented by P G Wodehouse, Mark Twain and
Stephen Leacock. Here, the amusement lies in comedy of situation,
turn of phrase, and very clever plotting. Again, they are period pieces,
in the case of Wodehouse evocative of the idle young rich of the 30s,
and entirely without social comment. Humor draws the sting from
inequality.

I read the above categories for pleasure, relaxation, and a good laugh.
However, most educated people have a balanced reading diet which
develops over the years as a result of specialization in one subject or
another. Most of us have developed a general interest in politics and
current events, and in democratic countries these are well covered in
the responsible press and in specialized magazines. In fact, all
subjects are catered for by specialized magazines, ranging from
agriculture to car maintenance. In these contexts, the pleasure of
riding is derived from interest in the subject.

Interest in politics and current events leads to the development of a

historical perspective, and hence interest in the past. This is well
catered for in an immense body of historical and biographical
literature. Social history is necessary to the understanding of current
trends. Historical romances often provide a good read, and the best of
them are very informative about the events of past times.

However, the classics provide the best all-round source of pleasure. It

is one thing to have to study texts for one's A or O Levels. That can be
hard work. It is quite another to rid them for pleasure in later life.
They offer a more sophisticated source of interest than can be
obtained from any other genre; development of character, social and
political comment, action and reflection, humor, pathos, sometimes
tragedy. The appeal of poetry should not be ignored. The best of it
requires the ultimate in the command of language.