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Does All Knowledge Generate Power?

高二庚 翁瑋杉
“Knowledge is power.”
As this common saying suggests, I believe that improving one’s mental potency
with knowledge is an indispensable obligation for a student who wishes to become
a mature and responsible individual. For most students, the so-called “knowledge”
is mostly “given” by teachers in a place called “classroom.” However, according
to John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist, and educator, knowledge
can be roughly categorized into two kinds, namely knowledge from the classroom
instruction and that from personal experience. So far as I am concerned, the latter is
more important.
My reasons are as follows. First of all, while the classroom instruction gives
students considerable amounts of knowledge, it is sometimes good for nothing
but examination. On the contrary, knowledge from personal experience influences
an individual for his/her whole life. This kind of knowledge, I believe, is the very
element that enables one to lead a meaningful life, while what is learned from
textbooks and proven by tests, if not digested in life, will eventually fade away while
one is moving toward his/her future.

Second, unlike knowledge from the classroom instruction, knowledge from
personal experience is something one not only knows but feels. The difference
between the two is that the former tells one what to do and how to do it, word by
word, step by step, while the latter infuses one with the passion for what is to be
done and the ability to learn possible ways of doing it.
I believe that knowledge gained from personal experience should be considered
more important, especially when we put life in the future into our consideration,
because it teaches people how to feel, how to learn, and what is possible.

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