In principle, not everything that people learns that come from books. With the changing times coupled with increasing need to learn more and more, people have found themselves reading from different sources. These sources include life experiences, books, and internet among others. Nevertheless, the source of information will depend largely on the purpose of reading.
Possibly the best and most authentic source of cognition is life experience. This fact may explain the popular shibboleth “experience is the best teacher.” On one hand, experience is the cognition attained by doing things while on the other, books and internet is the record of these experiences. These three forms of information work in concert to supplement each other. For instance, one can choose to go abroad, buy books, or surf the internet to learn about abroad. Even though real life experience is the best way to learn, books and internet may offer enough information with pictures that make abroad very real. Nevertheless, books and internet may be biased and the reader may get the wrong information. Books or internet information may not talk of the negative side of something and this gives the reader the wrong impression. People can overcome this bias through real life experience.
This is not to say that books and internet are not sufficient for learning. Actually, these two offer the first source of information concerning any given issue. There are instances where books and internet have to predate experience. For instance, for anyone to make a good meal, he or she will have to study the recipe before making the meal. Thereafter, he or she will have experience on the same. However, there are some other instances where consulting books and internet may be of no use. For instance, there is no way someone will ever learn how to swim without learning through experience.
There are several outstanding differences between these three sources of information. Books and internet are almost the same. They are likely to be biased due to the process used to document information. The information written in either books or internet comes from people who may be biased hence giving opinionated information. While books may remain unedited for some times, internet is bound to regular changes that may mix facts with personal opinions. This implies that books and internet may not be reliable to some extent. However, in most cases, books and internet are reliable and they offer the best source of information in academic circles. Moreover, internet offers opportunity to access latest information from around the world. Internet is gaining popularity in contemporary times, given the revolution that technology has brought. This raises the issue of convenience and time saving. For instance, scientists working in a laboratory from India may share that information with other scientists working from New York. Experience on the other side will offer indifferent information and this serves as the best source of knowledge. Nevertheless, there are instances where experience cannot apply as source of information.
Therefore, books, internet and life experience are credible sources of knowledge. The purpose of the information required is what determines the source that an individual will use. Which is the best source of knowledge here? The answer is all. Of the three sources of knowledge, none is independent and utilizing the three may offer the best knowledge ever known. Books, internet and life experience are equally important when it comes to gaining knowledge.