Educated, learned, and wise have become descriptive characteristics that have become seemingly interchangeable in today's society. However, what does it mean to be learned, wise or knowledgeable? In the article “The Educated Student: Global Citizen or Global Consumer” by Benjamin Barber, he says: “…young people were increasingly exposed to tutors other than the teachers in their classes or even those who were in their churches, their synagogues - and today, their mosques too. (417). It is suggested that the locations where these characteristics are obtained have changed with industrialization and capitalism. Allen Bloom's "The Student and the College (of the Closing of the American Mind)" posits directly from the perspective of a college while referring to an incoming student: "Looking at him, we are obliged to think about what he should learn if he is to be called educated. (422). The main reason students continue their education is based on the assumption that they will be considered educated upon completion of their studies. But what does it mean to be educated? Deborah Tannen proposes in “The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue” that students since the Middle Ages have gone to institutions of higher learning to learn how to argue or, more formally, debate (538 ). Where is the ability to argue in education? With little support for the education system currently in place, Barber, Bloom, and Tannen discuss in their respective articles the existing problems, their origins, and what they entail. Between authors Barber and Tannen, there is consensus that education today has been shaped by events in history. The sources of the story differ as well as the conclusions they draw from the middle of the article......they get the same conclusion. Barber takes advantage of the “look what we have become” style to scare the reader into drawing conclusions in his favor. In contrast, Bloom highlights a social convention, in this case college attendance, and breaks it down question by question. However, Tannen uses something that people consider counterproductive and points out in the story the benefits it brings. All three authors see something in the university system that needs improvement, and in some cases they answer each other's questions. Bloom suggests that college requires more time than necessary to achieve the desired goal due to several factors. However, Tannen maintains that classroom debate creates a fantastic environment for the student. Only time will tell how the education system will evolve and how the present will affect the way education will be viewed in the future..