Issue38 [fighting-gre-0706g]

IanChowUID: 2250652

TOPIC：ISSUE 38 - "In the age of television, reading books is not as important as it once was. People can learn as much by watching television as they can by reading books."


The speaker asserts that people can learn as much from television as by reading books, and therefore, reading books is not as important for learning as it once was. Yet, I concede that television as a media for learning has its inherent advantage in some respects, however, reading books is still a main form of learning and its importance in learning has never reduced by television.

Admittedly, television holds certain advantages over books for imparting some types of knowledge since film and video generally provide a more accurate and convincing record than a book or other written account. It is impossible for authors to recount in complete and objective detail in some issues concerning with the authors' taste and disposition. It may be just the reason why articles commending a war are not as persuadable and influential as videos taken from the front battle. More example concerning with the fact is that dancing teaching is more easier for learner to follow through television because it can show every movement clearly and accurately. It is comparatively difficult to attain such a efficient through books and other written records. Besides, in a world of sargasso sea of information, it a onerous task for publishers to disseminate all kinds of message in printed form.

However, television has its own disadvantages comparing with books in some respects. First of all, a decided tendency on some of the owners of television media filter information to appeal to the widest viewing audience for the purpose of maximizing the profit, which will result in the viewers who are involving in emotional and distinct feelings  miss many chances to receive complete, unfiltered, objective and balanced massages. In addition, television set, compared with book, has a much poor portability and dependent so much on other factors such as batteries, wireless wave, cable connection and etc, which may or may not be available in a given place. Further more, television is not as convenient as books to check up forward and backward for reference.

As we all know, learning by reading books is still the main form in most  universities and schools. In one respect, reading books can bring people a pleasure sensory feeling, it is always my favorite time when reading a book to spend my space time with a tea pot on my desk. In other respect , we can get whatever knowledge you want by browsing through a library while just a few categories of knowledge are available on television. Also, one can read a book in an appropriate speed depend on one's reading skill. Finally, the effort required to read actively imparts a certain discipline that servers any person  well throughout a lifetime of learning.

In sum, while many people may remain unconvinced by my argument, but the above-discussed reasons should to a large extent justify my claim that television and books are two different approaches of learning, both have its own merits and should complement in some degree to promote learning.