E-ducation and the Languages of Information

摘要

'Civilised', 'cultured', and 'educated': perhaps there were times when these words could rightly be treated as synonymous. Thucydides and Cicero may come to mind. Some characters in Jane Austin, Henry James, or Edith Wharton seem to draw little distinction between the three corresponding concepts. Yet today they hardly overlap at all. 'Civilised' refers to a person's manners and behaviours; 'cultured' qualifies someone who is engaged with arts, letters, and other intellectual pursuits; and 'educated' is usually applied to people who have successfully attended learning or training courses offered by primary, secondary, or tertiary (higher) institutions. One could be any of the three without being either of the remaining two. Globalisation has greatly contributed to this differentiation, even if it has been pushing it in opposite directions, local and global. Montaigne already knew that 'civilised' and 'cultured' had local interpretations.