Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 139: Is Experience The Best Teacher?

In your understanding, Kindly define "Experience"

Experience is a knowledge a person can earn from events that happened over a period of time. It aids self-improvement and to avoid repeating mistakes either our own or others.

"Experience is the Best Teacher?"Do you Agree or Disagree with the statement above? Defend your take

I'll use a character named Felix to defend my take on this:

Felix's Mom had left the house in his care and she gave him clear instructions on what to do: "Felix when you're hungry, use the electric stove to warm the soup, don't use gas. If there's no electricity, eat snacks until when I'm back"
Felix heard that but still went against it. It was time to eat but there was no electricity. He chose to disobey his Mom and went on to use gas. He got distracted by a friend, forgetting there was something on fire. Thirty minutes later, he had remembered something was on fire. He rushed back home to see their house on fire.

That incident changed Felix life for good. He stopped just hearing advice. He started obeying them, he now understands that advices are given for a reason.

Is learning from mistakes faster or slower than learning from books or mentor? Share with us your thoughts

Yes, learning from books or mentors is faster. Teachers teach safety measures for the home, in kitchen, bathroom and other rooms, so that one could avoid getting hurt or injured without having to experience first.

This point links back to Felix's story. He heard the instructions clearly but he ignored. After his carelessness caused fire, he now experienced the consequences of what he learnt. It would have been faster to listened to his teacher and Mother. The trauma changed him for the better.

After what happened to Felix, he learned to be obedient. It wasn't just about safety in kitchen but also, he now understood that advice is given for a reason.

In conclusion, learning from mentors or books is faster and safer. Learning from mistakes is slower and dangerous, but it's often effective because it stays with a person, in the sense that, experiencing the consequences the person is less likely to repeat that mistake.

How would you balance between learning by experience and listening to someone who has been there

Experience gives you a clear understanding of what happened, while listening gives you a shortcut to learning about something to avoid or before experiencing it.

Taking a look into learning by listening, we'll see that if someone else has made a mistake or failed on something. We'll not want to experience it ourselves, we listen so that we don't make the same mistake. And it would make no sense to want to experience it ourselves.

Since not all experiences are a mistake or failure, sometimes it is better to experience it ourselves to build confidence. It's better than just listening.

For example someone can be trained theoretically on how to bake cakes, but without experiencing the actual baking, the person won't have the boldness and confidence to bake in reality.

My Conclusion

We can't be truly good at what we do without experience. But when it comes to mistakes, we need to listen first to avoid consequences. But then, the experiences from our mistakes can also be very beneficial.

---

I place my invite to: @msharif @kingjay4 and @ukpono

---

Photos on this post are mine

---

Cc: @Steem4Nigeria

---