Formal Education VS Life Experience: POLL

Formal education and experience are different tools for different roles.

A formal education teaches you how to learn quickly and the starting point for many ways or modes of thought as well as a broad base of information from which to draw ideas. It's like a cliff notes for many people's life experiences.

Experience on the other hand fills in the gaps, it's what you draw on to go from idea to finished product. Experience tells you the difference in stupid ideas and good ideas.

I have a couple of degrees including an advanced degree and I've worked off and on, though mainly on, since I was about 12 so 20ish years. I'm sure there are plenty who would consider that not enough experience but I'm getting there.

The bookish academic types tend to have lots of ideas on how to do something but a hard time actually applying those ideas. The people who lack formal education tend to get stuff done real well but have a harder time inventing whole new ways of doing things. Any generalization doesn't fit everybody but I think that is a fair one for a significant majority.

Finally not all education nor life experience is equal, your mileage may vary.

agreed Kyle

Finally not all education nor life experience is equal, your mileage may vary.

an understated truism

A bit of both worked for me. All of my jobs have been a slow climb upward and all were jobs that maximized on my natural abilities and built on my personal experience. My college years added to my knowledge and understanding and came in handy when I got my last promotion a few years ago. So for me it's been a combo of everything.

Formal education and experience work hand in hand. Some folks don't have the capacity for formal education. They may not qualify for a CEO position. Experience makes for a better educated CEO.

Excellent poll. Well asked questions.

the others have pretty much said it. It's not an "either/or" type of thing, they both count and compliment each other.

I'd go further and say that my formal education has made my practical experience richer and has made me better able to make meaning of it-not just in work, but in the rest of life as well. Similarly, my practical experience (working with children while studying child psychology, working in mental health while studying social work) equipped me for making better use of my time in the classroom.

the other thing to consider is the task. There are some tasks that are better learned from the bottom-up, and others that are better learned from the top-down. A complete education will always include both theoretical understanding and experience, though, so it's important that the loop be closed, no matter where one enters it.

With books/theory, you can cover alot more ground in a short period of time, with practical experience you get more depth and permanence.

I find that a combo of both types of "learning" work best for most people. What I hate is that so many jobs/careers in our society seem to think that without a piece of paper from some version of a place of "higher learning", you can't do a job well. Requiring a college degree for many of the positions I see advertised is silly. How many people who could do the job well, even succeed at it with flying colors, never get the chance because of the deeply ingrained belief that just because you proved you could pay out huge sums of money and sit through boring lectures on completely irrelevant topics to your degree, you are better than the non-degreed candidate.

Went to college for a while, dropped out and joined the Army for three years. Got to see some of the world. Met my husband and got married. Eventually I went back to college and finished my degree. Moved all over with my husband who was still active duty and had two kids. Being a parent and moving around meeting many different people has really taught me alot about people. Moving alot has also led to many jobs in different industries. There is no one way to gain knowledge. You get it from many sources and experiences and that is a good thing. I'm going to be a grandma in a few months, so more new experiences to come!

Books only teach theory, and life always kicks theory dead in balls.

My grandmother taught school back in 1919-21, with six months of formal education after high school. She taught k through 12, in a one room school house and love her kids. She didn’t just teach them the books, she taught them how to help each other and how to work together, all while at different levels and ages. That’s a tough thing to do, but she loved her kids.

Today, teachers need at least four years of college just to teach kids how to do simple math and reading and they are losing the battle. I don’t want to belittle all you teachers out there but it seems to me that learning how to memorize techniques for passing standardized tests just doesn’t apply to real life situations.

The kids are running the show in today’s classrooms and I blame the universities and the teachers. IMHO.

I am a seeker...a natural "student" who has far more questions than I will ever find the answers to, but it is the continual process of learning that I enjoy.

I think a basic education is necessary to be able to read, write, do math....and math instills logic skills which I have found useful from time to time. I think a college education is beneficial to some people and to others --- they have acquired a piece of paper that supposedly says that they learned something. It is life's experiences that provides the seasoning of the soul and therefore the greatest education IMHO.

Repetition has always bored the bejeezus out of me, so when I make mistakes I really try to learn from them ....so it gives me more time to make "new" mistakes to learn from. LOL!

I believe a college education is nothing but a piece of paper that doesn't necessarily guarantee a good job or happiness. A lot of people with degrees and such go to apply for jobs and find out they are over-qualified and don't get the job. So I think mostly life experiences are the best teachers.

Like all other aspects of life, I think it's a balance.

I think the best approach is a combination if possible. School helps to establish a foundation, it helps to learn how to learn if that makes sense. Real-life experiences teaches that variables are not always static, reactions are not always as they should be, and I think it teaches how to address the human, unpredictable side of things.

I am a huge proponent of traveling, if people have the financial means to do so. I think it is one of the best forms of education out there. To me, travelling has made me aware of how different people interact and what's really important. Being well traveled is very often a characteristic of people who I have met that I would describe as very knowledgeable.

A mixture is good, and there are some times that experience trumps all, unless of course we are talking about being a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer...then education is an absolute necessary!

I have ran into many EDUCATED IDIOTS in my life. You need a good balance of both education and life experiences, I did graduate High school, just barely I never opened a book the last two years, but I couldnt afford college and scholarships were for the athletic, so I joined the Marines before they could draft me, however my draft notice came while I was in boot camp; see education at work. Many young officers didnt make it through Nam because their education got in the way, some learned the hard way of lifes tribunals, some turned out ok, I finally got my 2 degrees while still on active duty. and even in the military its not what you know its who you know, lifes experiences help forge your future and education gives it the kick in the butt to futher it along. You grow up fast or die young in the military. but I wouldnt trade my experiences for all the gold at fort knox, Common sense should be the rule of life, as the gamblers says Know when to fold em know when to hold em know when to walk away, seems like good advice to me.

A high IQ is a plus ... it will get you to and help you to succeed in many places where book learning will fail you. Education begins at home, so I am a firm believer that a child with a high IQ, and who is schooled and guided at home, instead of relying on public education, will truly excel. A child must be guided and trained in resourcefulness ... and logic as well.

If one can recite the dates of events is irrelevant ... if, however, one can understand the causes and impact of those events, then that is where education really is significant.

I wish I had spent the money I spent on education on property.

I agree that it takes both life experience and formal education to make a person well balanced. I quit school after I completed 8th grade and at 16 left home to make my own way. I settled down with a great man and raised 6 children that I homeschooled after I received my GED and a college degree. I found that just having life experience puts you behind the eightball when looking for a well paying job but having both puts you at the front of the line :)

Thanks for the great poll, Mad.

Abe Lincoln. Need I say more?

It not like once someone get's a "formal education" they stop gaining "life experience".

Would I rather hire a guy right out of college, a 50 year old with 30 years experince and no education or a 35 year old with a college degree and 15 years experience?

Grew up in a housing project, small for my age, used my brains to stay in one piece. Worked in steel mill, smart for my age, became a union steward. Lost my job because I was a skilled worker and they didn't want us anymore, too smart for my age. Worked many odd jobs till I met my wife, smart move, she saw my art work and made me go back to school, Masters degree, teaching, moved to farm. Hard work, painting and the small life to end my time with grace.

Peace to all.

Both are important, there are some things that will only come to you with the right training and background given by school, things that don't necessarily make sense but are often the correct answer. There are other things that only are learned by doing, or by experience. You can read about riding a bike but unless you actually try it they are two very different experiences.

People need to learn more however not enough people take education seriously anymore. An education is far more important then "street smarts" which is something that can teach a person absolutely nothing except how to fail at life. An entire generation of Americans do not learn or aspire to be anything important. Politicians understand this and they try to gain the votes of the unintelligent by saying very ignorant things and people will believe them. Americans need knowledge that can be found in books, not in popular culture.

Thankfully I had some wonderful mentors in my young life to set me on the right path with their knowledge and wisdom which I have cherished to this day, unlike the formal education I was exposed to and brainwashed into a religious agenda.

Book smarts can be learned by everyone. Any one that wants to learn about something can do it. When you apply what you've learned you become experienced. No 2 life experiences are the same. There's always some degree of differences. Life experience thrusts you into situations unprepared and you cope and do the best you can. What you carry forward and how you use what you've learned to solve problems in the future is when life experience turns into wisdom.

I went from doing executive level work for a commercial developer in Hawaii, to being a full time stay at home parent to my children after my husband was killed on the job. Not very many employers count what a stay at home parent does as work related experience. After doing it for 15 years, I can say that they're clearly wrong about that.