Education

Education does not necessarily mean you go to school. Obviously you need a teacher, but that teacher could be yourself. Some of the smartest people in history failed/dropped out of school or didn't even go to school. Organized education has boundaries and to me can only get you so far. You need to be educated outside of the classroom as well. You need to expand your education through books and real life experiences. You can't be as successful if you are only "book smart". Outside of school, there are no limitations. You can learn about anything you want. That is what education should be like. Why go to a class that you're "required" to be in if you have absolutely no interest in. I have learned from last semester that you're only successful if you are actually interested in the subject. Education's biggest problem is that students only learn inside school. Most do not read or try to educate themselves about the outside world and that is the best education you can get.

What does it mean to be educated?

I have always thought that being educated meant going to elementary school, middle school, and high school, and graduating from high school and going on to college getting a college degree. I have also thought that someone who goes through elementary and middle school but maybe drops out of high school is still educated but just not as educated as someone who graduates from high school and goes on to college. But why is that the case? I think that everyone has just been told that that is what it means to be educated but who decided that? I have no idea and after thinking about it I do not necessarily think that there is any criteria to being educated. Or if there is then there is a huge difference between being educated and being intelligent.

What Does It Mean To Be Educated?

The purpose of education has never really crossed my mind or even the thought of what it means to be educated. Now that I think about, I believe that being educated means having a higher sense of learning and you can apply that learning to today's world. Also, being educated means having a sense of how things work and also what is going on in today's world. Society ultimately decides what it means to be educated. Most people will give the example that having an education means going to college and having a graduate degree. Also, it means being able to survive in today's society and being able to find a job that will fufill the purpose of your education. Ultimately, being educated boils down to what you learned throughout your school years. Lastly, our society tells us from day one that education is important because with education, you can lead a successfull life, and being successful is being pinpointed as educated.

What Does it Mean to be Educated?

There is no single correct explanation for what it means to be educated. Personally, I believe that a person should be considered “educated” based upon their success in the primary aspect of their life, whether that be school, work, mothering, etc. For example, an educated person could be someone that has a college degree, but what about someone who joins the military after high school instead of going to college? Does that make them uneducated? Or how about someone who becomes pregnant and drops out of high school, but is an excellent mother? Is someone less educated that receives a college degree from an American university than someone who receives one from a university in Europe? Does schooling always trump personal experience? There are millions of questions similar to those above that we could ask, but any answer that we come up with could be debated. To be educated is more a matter of how well we use what we do know.

What does it mean to be educated?

Education is the level of understanding that someone has of ideas that shape our society. Education comes not only from school and teachers, but also from your parents/guardians and your peers. Your parents and peers can teach you things that schools can't, such as social norms or how to behave in certain situations. Education is one of the most important things that someone could have. Your level of education can determine your future. For example, someone who drops out of high school probably will not go to college and will not get a well-paying job, where as someone who does very well in high school will probably go to a very prestigious college and will get a very well-paying job. Sometimes a person's peers can determine whether or not he/she is educated. Throughout school years, many children label others as being either smart or dumb based on their grades. A lot of the time, college applications can determine whether or not someone is educated. SATs and ACTs give representations of how educated someone is in certain subjects. College applications give universities insight onto how educated a person is and whether or not they are educated enough to attend that specific school.

Education

To be educated means to understand the concepts taught in certain intellectual fields. When someone is well educated, they have the capability to benefit society by applying what they know. Levels of education can vary depending on schooling systems, and the extent of someone's education. Someone who graduates from college is going to be better educated than someone who only graduates from high school. It is important to be educated in order to get a decent job in today's society. I think only yourself can be the judge of whether or not you are truly educated. It is possible to get through schooling without learning as much as others think you have. However, if you know that you obtain and understand the information that was taught to you in school, you know you are well educated.

What It Means To Be Educated

What does it mean to be educated? Who decides what it means? Who should decide?

In my opinion, being educated involves many different things. There is the standard aspect of school, which is the typical vision of education. We start off in grade school, working on memorizing dates and formulas and events that will quickly be replaced with the next year's new information. Senior year, for example, you most likely do not remember the exact lectures you learned about American History and the Revolutionary War in fourth grade. If someone brings up a name or an even, you may have a vague memory and a general notion of who they are and what happened. But in general, you won't remember everything. So education in this sense, while it helps us prepare for newer, harder, and more "intellectual" subjects, sort of seems to fade with time.
Then there is the "live and learn" aspect. I believe that, while we learn many a great and helpful thing from books and lectures, we learn the most from our own personal experiences. These don't have to exclusively fall among travels, relationships, mistakes, and friendships, although these are definitely a major component. They can also fall within the actual school system. Think about it, so far you've spent most of your life in school. That's where you meet people, have your first experiences of all sorts, and learn about all the things in the world you can experience and be educated from. In a sense, the typical "school system" education prepares you for the "live and learn" part of life.
As of now, our elders officially decide what it means to be educated. They structure our school system and decide what we learn, when, and how in depth we go. But they only decide the school aspect. They can't decide the "live and learn" part, because they live their own lives, and you decide your own education in that aspect. Who should decide our education? I think the system works as it is. We follow the structure of the school system and use that to decide what we do and do not want to learn on our own. There will always be disagreement between the generations of what works, because the younger generation wants to decide for themselves while the older generation knows what works. In reality though, it is a healthy balance between the two. The older generation supports our education until we ourselves can make our own educated decisions.

What does it mean to be educated?

To me, education is a very valuable thing to have. To be educated shows many qualities about you as a person. A lot of students are educated in different ways based on what their high schools have taught them. My high school was pretty good at educating students in the classes they taught, and I would consider myself pretty educated. Having an education can get you very far in life, and in this time period, education may be the only thing that can help you succeed in your future. Being educated determines what college you attend and the type of job you obtain. A more educated person might get a better job than someone who is less educated just based on the fact that they know more information and have better qualifications. Education is something that students grow up with from the time they start school. However, some students might get a better education then others because of the school they go to or the environment they are brought up in. I think education can be taught by many people in a students life. It can either be by a school, university, the students parents, or even outside sources. Education comes in many forms and presented in different ways. I also think it has to do with what a student wants to learn and how much they want to be educated. If a student is willing to put the time in to go to school and be willing to learn, then they will become educated. Education is the basis for most accomplishments in life and based on how well someone is educated, shows how far they will succeed in life.

what does it mean to be educated?

I have never thought what it means to be educated. Our public school system says that if you pass a few standardized tests it means that you are educated. However I know a lot of people in amazing colleges who still can't spell correctly and have no common sense at all. Education is also relative. One society will value knowledge on a topic that another one might not. Earning a graduate degree is a way to tell the world that a person has been educated. In my opinion being educated is the ability to be motivated to learn new things and take that interest outside of school and try to be the best person you can be.

What does it mean to be educated?

Going through grade school isn't just about all of the tests, homework, projects, SOL's, due dates, blah blah blah. There's something much more to being a part of an educated community and having those experiences while growing up. I don't agree with those teachers that dish out busy work and stupid time-consuming projects. In my opinion, a real education includes the subjects' connection to real-life situations and using "hands-on" learning, all while keeping the students interested. In a typical American high school, actually learning isn't always at the top of a teenage student's list of priorities. They have to balance their extracurriculars, social life, and life at home. And if the schoolwork is boring or seems to be pointless, then the student has lost all interest in learning all together. On the other hand, in many inner-city schools, kids are literally giving up everything they have to be properly educated. They want it more than anything else. Why is their mentality so different from the average suburban teen?

Education

Education is and important aspect that gives people so many opportunities for their future. With an education one is able to reach their goals and have a successful career. I do not think that any particular person should decide who should or should not get educated and what it means. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to education, which is not always the case. A lot of people may argue that the United States is a place of equal opportunity when it comes to education but it is not actually true. There are many places such as inner city schools who do not have the best of teachers and therefore those student will not get the same education as students who go to school in a rich suburban area. The idea of equal opportunity does not exist.

What does it mean to be Educated?

The phrase, to be educated, is a human constructed concept that is manufactured to the technological advancements of the current time. Education is a variable. It is never constant. As one ages, their education (in parts) becomes somewhat obsolete. Technology drives this concept. Without the renovation of one's old information with the new, how can one continue to be truly educated? This is where the concept becomes controversial. Education standards vary throughout the nation and aren't uniform. This distorts what it means 'to be educated' in our country. For me, the road to becoming educated begins with how you were raised. Parents are the first teachers. They instill many of the vital lessons that help us grow. It is off this block that many students falter early on. If this part of education is not adequate then how can a student succeed? I also believe being educated means that you have an understanding of the world around you. It is more than just being able to read and write. It requires knowledge in various different fields and also in current events.

As you can see, education is complicated and I believe there are many views that can be taken on this subject.

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Standards of Learning. Standard Aptitude Tests. Scantrons. Kids of the future, including our generation, are manufactured to be test takers. These tests and quizzes are supposed to keep students on track and make sure teachers follow lesson plans. Unfortunately, I think the excessive planning, specific instruction, and many other barriers placed on youth today in order to make sure we “keep up with other countries” is being counterproductive. How is true genius supposed to be discovered, inspired, and encouraged when all the education systems seem to care about is how well you can bubble in on a sheet.

The technologies in our era are rapidly progressing and allowing us to read, work, and act quicker than ever before. Kids have access to iPods, Kindles, and even cell phones that are nearly as fast as computers today. Education systems need to find a way to embrace the current technology and adapt it to learning plans today. Conventional teaching methods such as whiteboards and blackboards are a thing of the past, yet are still seen in nearly every classroom. Children are no entertained by words on a chalkboard when they could or do have handheld devices that are in full color, teach lessons quicker, and are interactive. The one on one interaction with children using the devices is much more rewarding and effective than sitting in a class with 25 other kids trying to grasp a single concept on that board that can take hours to cover.

What does it mean to be educated?

Education is more than just passing tests in high school and college. I think education means learning and applying the information that you have learned. In high school, education was measured by standardized tests. However, I do not think that this is a true measure of education because many teachers taught students only what they needed to know to pass the tests. I think there are many different definitions of education. For many states across the country, education means being able to pass a standardized test. However, many employers want people who have completed high school as well as college. The employers base education on where you went to college and the degree that you earned.

Education means to have knowledge about a wide array of topics, especially ones important to your career. For college students our job is learning and gaining an education for our future. In high school everyone sort of learns just general knowledge that someone somewhere decided it was important for everyone to know. We all learn the same things in high school and the same is for gen eds. in college. We learn general information and start to figure out what exactly we want to do with our lives. After that we start to get a more practical and personalized education. Society as a whole decides what it means to be educated. It dictates what is taught in schools, what employers want in workers, and what people consider education. Education is a complicated thing. There is more than one way to be educated, but in America we seem to only deem a formal education in the classroom as worthy of the education title.

What does it mean to be educated?

To be educated means that one is a well rounded person. History, english, science, math, art, music and life lessons have been taught and understood. The government should provide broad outlines for schools and districts, but leave the teaching to the teachers. They know what is best for their students. The teachers know their childrens limitations and expectations. Lessons should be tailored for each individual class. The teachers can't teach because they are worried about providing students with facts to memorize so that they can pass placement tests. The "No Child Left Behind Act" leaves no children. They are viewed as bodies that must consume the information that they are told to learn by the government. If children are left to explore subjects for longer periods of time, the information would stick better. It's difficult to comprehend the lessons being thrown at you when you are constantly being introduced with new ones. I believe that all students should be required to learn eight main subjects. History is crucial because in order to predict the future, one must study what happened before. It is also important to understand ones culture and to respect others. Foreign languages should be taught at the earliest possible age. After a certain point, it is almost impossible to learn and use fluently. Knowing how to speak multiple languages is a helpful and valued trait. English is the most basic subject and is needed to build the others. Sciences and math are two of the most important concepts that students need to grasp. They may be considered some of the hardest, but in order to be successful people, one must succeed in these subjects. Art and music should not be optional like they are in many schools. They should be required because they allow students to explore different cultures and the other side of their brain.

Question 1

Thick and Thin. Conceptual devices that are used to convey a message of how complex a meaning may be. A situation may be viewed as thin when it is described as good, or with another simple adjective. This is a bare bones type of response that is universal in its meaning. Many cultures see this adjective (good) in a positive manner. Thin devices tend to be consistent throughout many societies and cultures. Starting with thin topics to fully understand thick ones may be a good approach. Thick on the other hand is described in more complex terminology. In order to fully depict a situation, one must fully understand it. Without understanding, there is confusion. Descriptive adjectives such as strength, depict that there is more vivid detail in the situation we are talking about. Appiah interestingly brings morality into play and describes morality as thick. Usually one would start at a thin concept and move to a thicker one as it is understood. But, Appiah says that this is not the case with morality. Morality is already complex. It requires a thick understanding. He implies that one should pick apart thin concepts in morality that relate to the thick concepts. This would help one understand. Interestingly enough, morality is 'extra thick.' It changes within each society. This causes confusion, and hinders the breakdown into thinner concepts. This in turn causes a lack of understanding. Morality is the same as say respect. Different societies and cultures view respect in different ways. In the United States, we may label someone as Mr Doe to show respect. In Japan however, one should bow before speaking, especially in business deals. This complex idea of respect becomes harder to understand the more you branch out from your own understanding.

Question 1

Thin is very broad, generic, and more widely accepted term. Thick goes into more detail and explains the significance of what is going on. When you say terms like "good" or "bad" you are being thin about an action. Morality starts off thick, however, to find points of agreement, concepts begin to become thin. Thick and thin is found in all cultures. There are just different definitions of the terms throughout different nations

Appiah often used the words thick and thin to describe words applied to morality. Thin words are words that are universal across many nationalities and cultures, such as "good" and "bad". Thin words describe something, but do not really hold too much depth and meaning. Thick words, however, add much more meaning to a description. These words are more special and specific to certain cultures and their histories and traditions. As examples, Appiah used "courageous" and "rudeness". These apply more to particular social contexts, and you have to think of the act you are describing. Thick words are exactly as they imply, they are thick with meaning and background and thought.

Question 3

I enjoyed reading about the long list of taboos in the article. Mainly because it put some perspective on the culture. I was a little confused by some of the norms like not touching a menstruating women, even to touch her hand. I realized that I had a very ethnocentric point of view and should try and see the tradition behind it. I enjoyed learning about the different cultures though and think it's very interesting that a child's uncle is in charge of its well-being since that would be very unusual in America.

Appiah uses a list of taboos to show that all humans find something disgusting because it has been an evolutionary force throughout history. Even when normal chocolate is "shaped like dog feces" we will not eat it. In addition, people find different things disgusting because of their culture. I think he describes a variety of disgusting things in order to relate to many different cultures and audiences. This excerpt also shows the power of a culture. Even when eating cats does not cause any danger, many cultures still refuse to take part in the act. I think the purpose of the passage is to show that all cultures are different but not deficient.

Question 1

The term thin is used to describe a word that has a generally accepted meaning, but does not go into great detail. Thick is a term used to describe a word that goes into great deal explaining something. For example, think of a boy giving up half of his lunch to a friend who forgot his. If one were to describe this using thin language, he/she would say that the boy did a "good" thing. The message that is being conveyed is clear, but vague. To reword this statement using thick language, one would say the boy did a "kind" thing. The word "kind" is much more descriptive and gives a better picture of what is trying to be said. It shows that the boy did something to help someone else without any obligation to do so. Thin concepts are very universal and widely accepted whereas thick concepts are more society-based. Most disagreements arise from thick concepts due to either conflicting views or an inability to understand one's views.

Question 3

In the terms of contention section of the reading Appiah poses questions to introduce and explain his ideas. His questions are rhetorical, open ended questions with many possible responses and no absolute answer. Answers to Appiahs questions are merely just the opinions of the answerer. The purpose of these questions are to make the reader truely think about his ideas and not just think about his ideas from one side because to understand Appiahs ideas you have to think about the questions from many different sides. It also causes one to question their own previous opinion on a topic. In a narrative of some sort or a persuasive essay of some sort I feel that I could successfully utilize Appiahs rhetorical question strategy. At the same time I feel that if one was to misuse his strategy it could have a greater negative affect on ones paper.

(Christian Brown, Question #2) I believe that the list of “taboos” in Gross Points is essential for the audience to fully understand the point that Appiah is trying to get across, which was basically that there are numbers of different customs that differ from culture to culture. He included them in order for the reader to be able to relate to one of the examples he gave. I found the example about “Americans eat pigs, but not cats” to be one of the more interesting, not only because I’m a vegetarian, but also because I feel that it was one of the more effective examples he listed. This subject as a whole was a real eye-opener, although was familiar with a handful of the examples from taking Cultural Anthropology last semester He hopes to gain acceptance of the fact that different cultures have different ideas and standards. I think that Appiah truly wants the reader to become familiar with the idea that there are different cultural values that must be respected. This chunk of text in particular is important to the whole excerpt because what seems to be “good” in one culture may be the complete opposite in another. And he used the list of examples to emphasize that.

Appiah: Question 3

In "Terms of Contention", Appiah talks about the overlap of values between different cultures. He describes, for example, how some people believe that spanking their children disciplines them while others may not feel the same way, or how the term "sexual immorality" can be interpreted into a variety of different meanings. Appiah brings about these examples by posing questions that cause the reader to really analyze the situations in order to come to a conclusion. The use of such questions is an excellent way to grab readers’ attention and get them involved in a reading. They can be very effective in many types of writings, especially persuasive and informative papers.

The list of taboos in "Gross Points" is used so that the audience can find an example that they "happen not to do". Appiah includes these so that the reader can relate to one of the taboos, but also become acquainted with others one might not be as familiar with. He hopes to gain acceptance of the fact that different cultures have different ideas and standards. "Many Americans eat pigs but won't eat cats" is used to show the reader that eating cats is acceptable and normal in other regions of the world. Depending on where one grew up and which culture one came from shapes the individual and their thoughts. Appiah yearns for the different cultural values to be respected. He mimic's peoples thoughts of foreign ideas in his writing style in "Moral Disagreement". The variety of examples he uses connects to his purpose of spreading acceptance.

Emily Unger

Question 1

Appiah uses the words thick and thin a lot when talking about the concepts of morality. Thin words are words such as good and bad. They are very vague and just gloss over the general meaning behind an action. Thin words do not give one too much detail on the act, plus thin words are much more general than thick words. Thick words have more meaning and depth behind them. They also put a lot more emotion and impact behind an action. For example calling an act brave or courageous paints a much more detailed picture than calling the same act good. The same goes for cruel or evil verses bad. Thick words are debated more on the fact that different people see situations differently. People are more likely to debate if an act was courageous or crazy than they would over whether it was good or bad. People from different communities often agree on thin words used to describe things and debate more on the thick adjectives. People's backgrounds greatly effect how one perceives an event on the thicker level. Thin words are much more universal, while thick words are more community based.

Hi, I'm Christopher Davis and I did question 2. The purpose of the long list of taboos listed is to describe the differences between the cultures of the world. Such as eating cats, the thought of eating a cat, especially when thinking that cats are domestic pets to Americans, disgusts us. Also, the differences of Churches desrcibe such as the priests not eating the "sacred donations" if they have touch people that are polluting. I believe overall that they are listed just to show the different cultures and backgrounds of practice in the world and to show that some should not take us aback. The effect that I believe readers would have to this section is maybe a changed mindset of not to think as other peoples' practices as disgusting. The reader could start accepting those practices as ok and just a way of life in other cultures. This strategy is shown throughout the article because it gives the reader a sense of the other cultures maybe they have never known. It gives the reader a sense of what goes on throughout the world and maybe leads the reader to become a little more accepting of those other cultures.

Question 2

I think the purpose of listing all the taboos is to show that they can lead to disagreements among many people. People can disagree about what they find gross and find normal. Many people have different habits that they portray, and whether one person thinks that habit is gross, is their decision. The effect that Appiah hopes to have on his readers is so they can see what different habits people have in different cultures. Even though something may disgust one person in one culture, another culture may disagree and be disgusted by something else. Everyone is different, and Appiah wants to show the differences between people and their "traditions." As i mentioned above, this strategy connects to the overall purpose because it shows how people can have different taboos or be disgusted by different things. It shows how people disagree about certain things and even though not one person may be right, they all have their different opinions about certain disgusts and why those things disgust them.