Common sense, as defined on Dictionary.com, is “sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence.”
Now, it is not my intent in this blog to throw stones at a wasp nest like what is “normal” intelligence. I want to look at the seeming lack in so much of our world of “sound practical judgment,” or one could say, simply, logical thinking.
It seems people often don’t know how to think. The world is full of people telling us what to think. Let me illustrate using one of my pet peeves, the advertising industry. The advertising industry tells young parents, for example, that they need to get so much stuff to be a good parent! Everything from diapers and wipes to toys that will practically educate your child by itself!
Apply some common sense to the situation. Yes, you need diapers. Does it make more sense to buy disposable diapers or cloth diapers that you can wash? Weigh your options, compare costs, decide what is most practical for you. THINK before you follow the path the advertiser wants you to follow!
I was a stay-at-home mom, and because I had a washer and dryer, and time, I used cloth diapers most of the time. I bought disposable for traveling, and for when we were away from home. It was cost effective for me.
Another place where I see a lack of logical thinking is in social media. I am on Facebook, and sometimes you can tell that things are meant to be a joke, but often you can tell that people are not applying any thought to things. I recently saw a post (probably a phishing scheme of some sort) proclaiming that an amazing occurrence was happening only in this year! Mathematic geniuses could not figure out why this was the case, and it would only happen once in this century! If you add the year of your birth and your current age, it would be 2019! Amazing! (Please note my heavy sarcasm!) I am no mathematical genius, but I am smart enough to know that my birth year plus my age is always going to be the current year!
Now, these are just a couple of examples. Logical thinking, or common sense can also be applied to much weightier decisions, and I fear this is not being taught in many families, schools, or places of worship. Do people take the time to apply common sense to things like, for instance, race relations? This is where we get into all the biases that are passed from generation to generation without thought. Is there something that you think about a certain race that hinders your common sense? Think about what you would say or feel if someone thought about you in that way. If you would be outraged, that is a good indication that it is a bias, and not true. Nobody likes to be lumped together with a certain group and judged that they are always the same as everyone else. The only race we are a part of is the human race!
I hope that I have passed on to my children, and anyone that knows me, that common sense means using your thoughts to look at all sides of a problem, weigh the options, logically make observations, and basing decisions on thoughtful consideration rather than just what everyone else is doing.