8 traits of truly educated people according to A. Chekhov

What exactly does it mean to be an educated person? There are many cultural habits and concerns that we could identify with this group of people, and sometimes it is not very clear if these Characteristics really tell us about someone's way of thinking or are they simply a description of the ways in which they express themselves his pride or vanity.

Sometimes what we know as educated people are no more than members of the upper classes who have had the privilege of being able to access books, films and other cultural products too luxurious to be afforded by the majority of the town. In others, what we call culture is a simple facade used to gain influence power.

Both options were despised by the young Anton Chekhov, born in 1860, who would become one of the most important Russian writers in history when he grew up. However, Chekhov did believe in the existence of truly educated people, and in one of his letters to his brother Nikolai spoke about the eight characteristics that, according to him, define them.

The true educated people according to Anton Chekhov

Nikolai, who was 28 years old at the time his younger sister Anton wrote him the letter, was beginning to be a recognized painter and educated people were beginning to take an interest in him. Due to this fact, Anton Chekhov included in one of his letters to Nikolai a list of what, for him, are the characteristics that define educated people, so that his sister would see to what extent he did not belong to that type of circles.

In this way, Anton Chekhov tried to encourage his brother to undertake the lifestyle of truly cultured, far from any trace of vanity and superficiality, and to start working every day to form in that address.

Beyond the intentions that the 26-year-old Anton of Chekhov had at the time of writing this text (which can be found in the Chekhov's letters collection), anyone can find in this list of characteristics a reasonable way to identify educated people. It is summarized below.

1. They are kind and respect others

Chekhov held that, by default, everyone is treated with respect and kindness by educated people. That means they never go so far as to prejudge those they don't know and are polite to everyone, never going so far as to only do favors to people who can return them.

2. They show sympathy not only for beggars and cats

cultured people take the initiative to help others and they care about people with whom they have little or no contact.

3. Respect the property of others

cultured people they know that stealing is not the only way to damage the property of others, and therefore pay all their debts.

4. they flee from the lie

Educated people do not lie even in the smallest details. They consider the lie as a lack of respect towards the interlocutor and they show themselves on the street just as they are at home.

5. They do not manipulate or allow themselves to be manipulated by compassion

They are not afraid to arouse compassion in others, and they also do not try to produce compassion to take advantage of the favor of others.

6. They don't embrace vanity

cultured people They don't try to connect with other people simply because they are popular or powerful.. Nor do they strut around to speculate on their own public image.

7. cultivate their talents

if they have a talenteducated people strive to develop it, and sacrifice immediate pleasures for it.

8. They develop aesthetic intuition

They are not just concerned with living life through a pragmatic sense of usefulness, but rather they think about what they do in aesthetic terms. Therefore, especially if they are artists, they reject some habits simply because of the aesthetic appreciation they have of them.

Another conception of culture

In his letter, Chekhov emphasized the fact that whether or not to become a cultured person is a matter of attitude, more than access to books.

Therefore, culture is defined as the property of internalizing the most positive and socializing elements of the culture in which a person lives, not in isolating oneself from others through the elitist barrier of access to luxuries. It is an idea that, today, we could claim more.