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Hieu Phan ED231 Essay 2 In order to define the ideal educated person, we first must understand what education

n means. Education is a broad term, which could essentially be defined as the process of learning and acquiring information. An educated person could be defined as someone who has learned and acquired a certain level of knowledge, thus reaching a certain level of education. However, I believe besides knowledge, an educated person puts their knowledge into good use, can think critically, and cares about society and the environment. First, an ideal educated person must have learned and acquired a certain amount of knowledge, including general knowledge about how the world works and specific knowledge of the fields that interest him or her. It does not matter how this knowledge is acquired, whether through formal education or not. Formal education offers a systematic way of learning in a classroom setting where learners receive support and guidance from teachers or instructors, following some planned curriculum. However, learning is not just restricted to the time one spent at school. One can learn knowledge outside the classroom through observations, explorations, books, the Internet and other media. In other words, an educated person does not have to be one who has gone through formal education and acquired certain diplomas and degrees. In addition to having knowledge, an educated person must know how to put what they know into good use. An educated person can use what they know to make sense of the world. In addition, they can differentiate theory and practice, as well as turning what they know into what they can do. Russell Baker once said that An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious just dead wrong. Indeed, an educated person must know how to think critically about existing knowledge and question its validity in this ever-changing world. The more educated a person is, the more they are able to critically examine their society and make their own informed and

conscious judgments. In addition, thinking critically also enables one to look at problems differently and discover new knowledge. An educated person would be useless if they do not care about society. We live in a complex world where countless problems and issues need to be solved. It is in the hands of educated people to address and tackle those problems and move the world forward. In addition, humans are increasingly making harmful impacts on the environment we live in. In order to maintain a sustainable future, we need educated individuals who care about the environment to stop us from collectively damaging it. In conclusion, an educated person is not necessarily one with a degree. In my opinion, an educated person possesses skills and knowledge and is willing to contribute to the development of the world while minimizing the impacts on the environment. In addition, an educated person is also a critical thinker who questions the status quo and strives to discover new knowledge. Last but not least, an educated person is also a life-long learner who learns constantly while having an open mind to new ideas and the opinions of others.

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