Throughout history, many people have claimed to be educated, which raises questions about the meaning of such claims. It is impossible to determine whether or not a person is educated simply because they attended an Ivy League school and have a perfect GPA. In fact, it is impossible to assess whether or not you are educated using standardized tests. In essence, education is not the same as knowledge, although many try to couple the two. The fact is that education is immeasurable and one is either educated or one is not. To be truly educated, you must possess the ability to listen carefully, think critically, and explore points of view other than your own. There are numerous ways in which one can educate oneself, including through travel, through books and meaningful discussions, and, of course, through the school system, which provides the tools necessary to succeed in such an endeavor (U 58). Susannah is a straight A. student who decides not to dedicate himself to physics and calculus in favor of theater and work-study. His reasoning is that he intends to major in art or history and, therefore, no longer needs to drop the subjects he chooses to drop. The phenomenon is observable throughout history where girls and women shy away from science and mathematics in favor of history or the arts. The lack of motivation occurs at a very critical stage as if, in the future, Susannah decides to change her mind, it may be too late for her. Fredrick Douglass' case stands in stark contrast to Susannah's. Although he shows a lack of motivation in some aspects of learning when they are readily available, the lack of resources only serves to motivate Douglass to the point where he resorts to "stratagems" to learn to... halfway through the paper. ..... not sufficiently used is the television program "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" The crux of the show is that adults who many consider educated by traditional standards, such as having master's degrees and doctorates, are pitted against fifth-graders in a battle of wits. While there are some adult winners from time to time, what the show depicts is a total massacre of the adult teams by the children. The reason for the sad outcome on the part of adults is that these children continually learn and apply such information in the course of their daily activities while adults, inevitably prestigious people in society, have not cared about such matters for decades. It is important, therefore, to periodically reflect on the knowledge gained to prevent it from atrophying and even to help gain a better understanding of numerous ideas and topics..