TOEFL essay

An educated person is an intelligent person.

It may be easy to assume that an educated person is always an intelligent person. However, this is not necessarily the case. There are people who are educated but show little or no sign of intelligence. Their intelligence simply does not reflect their education. This is because education and intelligence are two completely different things.

First of all, an educated person is one who has acquired a certain amount of knowledge from books or from other people. This person may have a deep understanding of a particular subject and be able to say a lot about the things she or he has learnt. However, this fact itself does not necessarily mean that you are dealing with an intelligent person. This person may not exhibit intelligence at all. For instance, a friend of mine is an avid reader. He devours books one after another at a remarkable speed. He knows so many things that I can hardly imagine how it is possible for a brain to retain such a vast amount of information. However, his erudition does not help him when it comes to everyday matters. It seems he never applies his knowledge, never takes advantage of it, and never assimilates/uses it in a way to develop something truly original.

In addition, it is obvious that an intelligent person is someone who is capable of solving problems. There are many examples of people who are not well educated yet act in a conspicuously intelligent manner and can find solutions that most educated people have simply overlooked. A lot of educated people are unable to pick up on things that an innately intelligent person can. For instance, Michel Dell, who is, without a doubt, a very gifted businessman, dropped out of university as a freshman when he came up with a new approach to selling personal computers. He has earned billions of dollars. He has taken advantage of an idea that a giant company like IBM simply ignored.

In conclusion, the fact that a person is educated should not be the only indication of his or her intelligence. Intelligence is a characteristic that allows one to capitalize on acquired knowledge and distinguishes him or her from what many people, ironically, call a “walking encyclopedia”.