This is my peer response post to Eric Chan’s post

I agree with what Eric says about how Emerson believes that school and books are essential to education, but this formal education should not be your only form of education. Emerson states, “Books are the best type of the influence of the past, and perhaps we shall get at the truth – learn the amount of this influence more conveniently” (3). Books give insight on what has already happened, helping you learn from history’s mistakes, however, as time passes, there are certain things that can be outdated, so “Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding” (Emerson, 4). Books do provide another man’s insight for the reader, but people interpret information differently, whether it is because you are from a different era or different area of the world. Granted, books teach you a substantial amount of information, but that is all it does; you are just basically memorizing the text that is given to you.

I also agree with Eric’s point of how Emerson’s values reflect a little of John Locke’s values concerning books. There is a substantial amount of value of books and schools and they are a great foundation for your knowledge, but it definitely should not be your only source of knowledge. Emerson coins the term, “bookworm”, to identify the people who basically just memorize the information given to them in books (4). His belief is that books are, “… for nothing but to inspire” (5). Like Locke, Emerson believes that you gain knowledge through your experience, “We no more feel or know it, than we feel the feet, or the hand, or the brain of our body” (6); you only know what you have already experienced or what you have learned from others, “I learn immediately from any speaker how much he has already lived, through the poverty or the splendor of his speech” (Emerson, 7). Books and formal education are important for the foundation of knowledge, but it definitely should not be your only source of it, be “man thinking” and learn more about the topics that interest you and really think about what you are reading to develop your own thoughts and opinions on the topic. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up proving the author wrong!