The 21st century has begun. What changes do you think this new century will bring? With examples and details in your answer.

Man, through the ages, has undergone many changes from the time when he depicted a herd of

mammoths on the walls of his cave to these days when he can create beautiful pictures and even make coffee by use of computer technologies without leaving his favorite chair. The 20th century made huge steps in developing computer technologies and reached many goals that made our life much easier. 

What should we expect in the 21st century?First of all, I think that the pace of our life will speed up: we will move faster from one place to another, from one continent to another using high speed jet airplanes. Second of all, I believe that we will be able to do many things that take much time now without leaving our house. Computers will be everywhere including out clothes. Many people will have chips and mini computers inserted in their heads to hold huge amount of information and have a quick access to it.

But what will be the most amazing thing in the 21st century is the flights to the outer space and Mars that will be available to all people. Scientists say that Mars has many things similar to the Earth's. Moreover, they say that with the help of modern technology people can artificially create conditions that will allow people to live there on the constant basis.

To sum up, I am sure that many amazing changes will be brought by the 21st century. Furthermore, I

think that with the help of the contemporary technologies people can do many things that were even

difficult to imagine a century ago. So, nowadays it is rather difficult and even impossible to imagine all changes that will happen in the next decades.

ARE BOOKS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EXPERIENCE?

This is an another example. Nowadays, most people appreciate learning at school, where a number of books are the source of knowledge. However, from my point of view, learning from experience is much more important than learning from books since our real lives concern more about knowledge from experience than knowledge from books.

Firstly, knowledge obtained from books is more abstract. As we enthusiastically study in classroom, we have learned several mathematics equations, or a number of science theories. Of course, they all are necessary for some professional occupations, such as scientist, engineer, and doctor, but not for all careers.

In addition, knowledge from books is rather logical and exact. The result of a matter is always follow-concerned theories. For example, a person who has learned science can know how long that an apple falls to the ground takes. Certainly, the answer can be obtained by using Newton's formula.

Nevertheless, I think that the most significant lessons cannot be taught; they have to be experienced. No one can teach us how we can get along with others well when we have to change to a new society. Books cannot teach us how to adjust behavior to satisfy others, and think optimistically when we confront a trouble.

In contrast to books, knowledge from experience is adjustable; it does not depend on any theory or equation. A solution from experience is always depending on the situation and other factors influencing the problem. This is because living experience is so fine and complex that cannot be determined by theories or equations.

In conclusion, although both books and experience can give us a variety of knowledge, in my view, the knowledge from experience is more important. The reason is that in everyday life we must face with a lot of situations, either extremely hard or easy to cope with, that cannot be handling by just knowledge from books.

ARE BOOKS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EXPERIENCE?

This is another example. It is true that "Not everything that is learned is contained in books." A person can learn a lot and retain what he learns through experience. In my opinion life's valuable lessons are learnt from experience and so the knowledge gained from experience is more important.

Books are a great source of information. A person in his lifetime cannot experience everything, but by reading a book on a particular subject he can gain knowledge over that subject in less time. There are books available on any subject that one needs. However experience seems more important to me.

Suppose a person living in the United States wants to learn about India. He has two options: he would visit India and learn about the people and places there or he would just pick up a book about India and read it. The first option will be expensive and time consuming, but at the same time it gives one first-hand information and a sense of satisfaction while the second option is less expensive and saves time.

A person can gain knowledge and learn many valuable lessons through his/her own practical experiences and also the experiences of others. The knowledge learnt from experience is very likely to be retained in our memory for a long period of time. The conclusions that we draw from what we learn would be from our practical experience instead of accepting the conclusion drawn in the book by the author.

So in my opinion knowledge can be gained both by reading books and by experience but the knowledge gained through experience is more important.

EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER

This example will tell us about how experience is used by our brains whether it's positive or negative. Books are considered to be the source of all knowledge, but all that one learns through a book is only of theoretical nature in the form of ideas and concepts. It is essential to utilize them in a real environment and experience the knowledge that is learned from books.

Learning is nothing but understanding the world around us. Books, no doubt are a great source of knowledge as it gives us an idea about a particular subject in detail. But all that one could learn from it is limited to the level of knowing how a certain phenomenon occurs, or how a certain concept works. The knowledge gained through books alone cannot help anyone, because what one learns through the books should be put in to use to harvest the benefits. For instance, a person who wants to learn driving can go through various manuals and guides that teach people how to drive, but all this knowledge is useful only when you are actually driving the car on the roads. It would be an utter waste of time if one just reads the books and does not use them for practical purpose.

Learning through experience is always a lot different from learning through books. Let us consider the same example of a person wanting to learn to drive: even if he goes through every book that is available on driving, still it cannot qualify him as an expert driver. This is because of the fact that books about driving can only teach people traffic rules and provide solutions on how to handle certain situations. The situations faced by a driver could be totally different from what he had learnt from a book. Sometimes we find that the real environment is quite different from the one perceived by us through reading books. This is the very reason why, even in educational institutions, all theoretical classes are followed by practical sessions.

Learning through experience can also be more effective than learning through books because one does not envision everything on his own, but is given a chance to experience the reality. The art of driving can be enjoyed only when we are behind the wheels and not when reading it in books. Moreover, any book is actually an account of past experiences, i.e. it is based on the experiences of people who tried to develop a new idea. The books are their experiences, telling us what they already have tried. Thus from their experiences we can correct ourselves and thus save valuable time and resources. It helps us to concentrate on their failures and to correct them, but they alone cannot teach us everything we need to know. The knowledge learned through books alone cannot help us to face all the exigencies that we would face in real life situations; we have to practice on our own.

Books are like a guiding light in one's pursuit for knowledge. But it is left to everyone of us to experience it first hand and learn new things for the betterment of their lives. So the notion "experience is the best teacher" is perfectly true.

HAS THE EASE OF COOKING IMPROVED LIFE?

Third Example. Recent technological advancements have changed the way people live radically. They have also made food easier to prepare - fast foods and preserved foods are everywhere. The days when cooking of food were a major errand of the day has long become the past. Nowadays if s only a matter of minutes to cook food. However this improvement does not come without a price.

The most important loss we suffer due to these fast foods is quality. These fast foods are lower in nutritional value and contain less minerals and vitamins. Further they have high calories that result in weight gain and that in turn leads to heart diseases and other problems. Further, they have added flavors, colors and preservatives that are not always very helpful to our health.

These preserved foods have also taken away the natural taste and benefits of fresh foods from our lives. We now depend upon artificial flavorings to make a fish taste like a fish. However we cannot get the natural taste of fresh foods from preserved foods.

We have lost the fun of cooking because of these fast foods. Cooking used to be an art and people enjoyed cooking and the satisfactions they got by cooking a tasty meal. Further, cooking is the time when family members gated and enjoyed their time together. However with less time devoted to cooking, the chances for such meals are now rare.

All these illustrations point out that although fast foods and preserved foods are unavoidable in today's busy world, we must not totally neglect the advantages of fresh foods. We must sometimes take time with our families to prepare a delicious meal and enjoy it together with the ones we love the most.

HAS THE EASE OF COOKING IMPROVED LIFE?

Food has always been the one of the greatest wants of humankind. It has influenced almost every step that humankind has taken. The search for food is the essence of life. Therefore if food is easier to get and prepare it is a real boon to humankind.

Food is the most important of the three basic amenities of life (water, food and shelter). Though it can be argued that water is the sustenance for any life form, food is more important because if you do not have water you will surely die. But if you are left with a scarcity of food it will lead to a very sickly and torturous life. Nutritious food is very essential for life, food has been the cause of many a battle. Thus if food was easier to prepare it will take away from the mind of the humankind a great burden.

Though the preparation of food becoming easier is considered a great blessing for humankind. The sudden rise in processed and canned food and all the junk food that one gets over the counter is not totally a boon. People, who are so busy that they are not able to spend time to prepare their food, develop a liking for this ready-to-eat junk food. Though it might be thought of as a great way to save time, this is a shortsighted idea that could actually lead to a world of harm. Because one must understand that even though junk food saves us a lot of time, the nutritional value of the food is not so good. In reality the preservatives used in these foods are often found to be toxic in nature. Hence it defeats the purpose it is supposed to serve i.e., to provide nutritional value.

Moreover since people do not take time to prepare food, the art of cooking is slowly vanishing. Actually cooking is a good way of releasing pressure that builds up from our professional commitments. Cooking can easily provide relief from all the tensions that prevail in our life. In the past family weekend get together was considered to be a good time to know each other and they used to spend time cooking food for the entire family. They used to exchange recipes and it was a way of rewinding after the hard week long labor. Thus this junk food has denied the human kind of one of humankind’s oldest arts. It could even be termed as a retrograde step in human culture.

Therefore I believe though the processed food has made the preparation of food much easier, it is not a good step for mankind.

HAS THE EASE OF COOKING IMPROVED LIFE?

People work hard to fulfill their principal necessities, and food is the one thing that is really important to their survival. Although sometimes belied by other things that seem important, food is the core objective that drives all people to work. But the outcome of the efforts of these people is not a direct supply of food; rather it is in the form of money. Thus these people use the money they obtain to prepare their food.
In old days, preparing food was cumbersome and time-consuming work for those who do it solely for eating purposes. This kind of preparing food in due time could not comply with the kind of life people lead today. The use of technological advancement makes preparing food practical even for the clumsiest person. This helps a great deal for those who work against time to make their living. It also avoids the waste of considerable amount of money from hiring a cook.
The development in the preparation of food is highly effective for those people who have no know how of it. A person who does not know how to prepare his/her own food would go to a restaurant or some other place where food is served every day. But with the advanced food preservation technology, now he is free, completely independent of restaurants and other places. He can prepare his own food and enjoy the feeling of "home, sweet home".
For people at work, life has just become easy for them. They will not have to worry all day long about what they are going to prepare for their supper. They can fully concentrate on their jobs, and work with a mind full of peace.
In general this new way of preparing food has helped those who are concerned about their daily meals — almost everyone. Not only that, it would enlighten those who are frustrated with their jobs just because of the worry of that tiresome work — preparing food.