In his essay, “The Marks of an Educated Man,” Alan Simpson writes that training the mind will help an individual achieve greater knowledge skills. The best results of liberal education cannot be achieved until the mind is trained to think clearly. Without proper mental training, a true liberal education cannot take place.
Since everyone’s brain doesn’t work the same way, the same amount of knowledge may not be present in two different individuals. Simpson talks about using everyone’s ability to think and examine life firmly, thus making a true liberal education possible, which in turn enables progress and reform of our educational system.
One of the main thoughts that Alan Simpson presents is the idea of not being afraid to make changes, especially if they are going to lead to the progress of our traditional systems. Simpson goes on to assert that a characteristic ability of an educated man is his ability to recognize false doctrines. It takes a certain amount of skepticism to combat the scammers and fact-filled fools that populate the earth today.
Without proper education, we become more gullible to false teachings. The educated man has tried to develop a critical faculty for general use and likes to think of himself as an excellent judge of falsehood. Having doubts allows a person to expand their knowledge on a topic. A person seeking a good education will generally ask questions and make sure they are given a good answer before being fooled by something untrue.
Fools, scammers and con artists in this world can mislead others by presenting fake messages. Most of those who practice this are nothing more than blatant liars, but they feel they have a holiness that places them above all others. These so-called “authorities” are nothing more than fact finders and very often end up caught in their own traps.
Without a liberal education, they cannot combine knowledge, skills, or standards. They are mostly affected by the environment and the media. The lack of a liberal education makes them very open to scams and they are definitely not analyzing, praying or thinking about situations as they should. These are the victims of the proud scammers.
Having good liberal education skills can be a preventive device against highly educated scammers. Demonstrations are a reality for us even at higher education levels. They surround us everywhere. From the professor to the scientist, both have been known to use invalid and shameful speech. Although college-level people can be fooled by scams, people with little or no academic training are especially prone and will almost certainly fall victim to scams.
College students are influenced by professors and clergy, but people outside the college world are largely influenced simply by what they read, see, and hear.
Simpson’s essay reveals that possessing liberal education skills enables a person to recognize false doctrines. People without education will allow an individual to negatively influence them more than people with liberal education. Educated people help keep fools and scammers in their place and away from the follies of human nature within the impostures.
Alan Simpson concludes his essay with a fascinating and exciting statement: “We are no better at not recognizing a clown when we see him.”