On The Literate and The Educated

A Road's Two Faces, Copyright by Melfe CLC & Ed A

It was the last day of the prelim period. Fahad, one of my attentive and silent students in Introduction to Philosophy, approached me after class. He would like some tips on the difference between a literate and an educated person, the report that he got assigned to speak after the weeklong prelim exam.  

I only had five minutes before my driver would pick me up. So I said to Fahad that while many persons may be literate, they may not behave like they’re educated.

It was the difference between knowing and applying what one knows. This was the proverbial gap between knowledge and wisdom. 

Example one: The best speaker in a Communication class explained well what a speaker must consider—so as to make an impact on his audience. But he did not observe silence when other classmates of his presented their reports.

Example two: The brightest student in a Technical Writing class clearly distinguished between denotation and connotation, but submitted a technical report heavy with poetic phrases.

Example three:  A member of the student council  in a Euthenics class waxed eloquent in reporting on  university and classroom policies, but—at the end of the prelim and midterm period—he had  the least  number of hours of class attendance, using  the most abused excuse of there being heavy traffic.

“Find out the common denominator of the students in these examples,” I said. “These are simple examples, but from these are born  crimes against good manners and right conduct.”

Fahad, smiling, seemed to know; he nodded before I finished the second sentence.