Francis Bacon was a firm believer of the theory that true knowledge derives from experience. Reading his works my first impression is how he was not afraid to be cynical in what he is writing about and perhaps slightly exaggerate the extremity in his point of view. In the essay "Of Studies" Bacon starts off by sharing his view that books can be a source of delight when those who have enough time read them; books can also provide knowledge to a certain level and this is helpful when one is in a discussion with other people, especially about politics. However, Bacon believes that to truly be an expert on a subject, one must have had persoanl experience on that ground, and only that can be relied upon for the wisdom. Learning could be used to improve knowledge on a subject, but not to become an expert on it.
             When I was reading Bacon's point of view on studying, I can see his way of looking at the matter, but I cannot fully agree with him. I agree that if a person is talented on a certain ground, then their knowledge can be improved by learning more about the subject. Firstly, to actually bring out a talent, one must learn about this matter – an person may be able to paint, but to paint, for example abstract art, one has to have a basic knowledge of what abstract art actually is. I believe that one can merit a lot by reading and learning about the experiences and points of views of other people from the past. For example, in the 21st century, a person will be thinking completely differently than a person who had lived back in the 16th, 17th or even 18th century. This depends on the society one is now raised in, or the advance in technology since then, and on new inventions and theories established since. Even if one should base wisdom on personal experience, there is a boundary as to how far one can go; a person in the 21st century will not see the world with the same eyes as two-hundred years ago. This limits the...