Common Sense From the Common Man

CHAPTER 2

What exactly is common sense? It should seem simple enough - the name in itself seems to provide the definition: common, meaning “something that is shared by the many” and sense, meaning (in this light) “judgment.” It would seem that the two words together describe a sound judgment that is agreed upon by all. However, it seems nowadays that common sense is no longer as ubiquitous as its name would imply. I'm not sure if it was ever as prevalent throughout the world as I'd like to believe, but I have noticed a decline in the utilization of it as of late. I'm starting to notice that some people have totally lost an understanding of what the phrase literally means. I actually heard a manager at my old job responding to one of his employees who was debating that the manager's decision wasn't right, and the opposite of his decision was “just common sense.” Can you guess what the manager's response was? He actually said, “Well, one person's common sense is different than another person's common sense.” Hello?! If common sense is different for everyone, then it wouldn't be called common sense now would it? So why has something that actually has the word “common” in its name become so rare?

I think the problem lies in the structure of today's society. Our world today is all about getting the most that we can get in the least amount of time while doing as little as possible to get it. We have inventions that no longer fall in the realm of creating new and unheard of innovations; they instead allow us to simply indulge in the realm of convenience. The get-rich-quick scheme has replaced the hard-day's-work and we have given up a big part of our humanity in order to come to the show. As we continue to sink into this plush and sedentary lifestyle, we lose the base tools that we are born with due to simple lack of use. Those same conveniences that we so highly desire and put all of our stock in actually rob us of those base instincts that we would normally use to survive, and one of those most important assets is common sense. I am not one to pass judgment, however, as I highly enjoy all of the conveniences that encompass our world, and I freely utilize as many as I can every day. What you need to understand is that just because you partake in all of the amenities our society offers us, it does not mean that you have to be robbed of your innate talents and abilities.

Another reason that seems to keep people from utilizing sound judgment throughout their daily lives is that today's way of thinking is totally different than it was in the past. It seems to me that we are starting to think more and more like our computers. Our judgment and decision making skills are full of “if/then” processes, basically keeping us bound to live our life in what we know and what we can be told. Humans still have the capacity to learn, but we seem to be shying away more and more from knowing how to learn. What has always separated us from machines is our ability to reason; however, as I deal with more people from day to day, I find that the line that represents that separation has started to blur. I think the reason for that is because as our society becomes inundated with ways in which a person can receive information, it also becomes very easy for some entities to tell people what they should be thinking or what they should be doing. As our more recent generation is spoon-fed their thoughts and ideals, it becomes very difficult for them to develop any of their own.

With these huge forces of influence encompassing a huge space in all of our lives, how can we hope to get back to the path of independent learning and judgment? I've found that we as humans need to exercise our figurative “common-sense muscle” so that it doesn't atrophy from lack of use. I think the best way to do that is by re-incorporating common-sense into our daily lives as much as possible.

It's in our nature to utilize common sense. Our ancestors have imprinted thousands upon thousands of years of learning on our genetic code; it's up to each one of us to utilize that gift instead of letting it sit idle while we allow the world to tend to us. Regardless of what outside factors are present in your life that can hinder your ability to utilize sound judgment, it's ultimately up to you to keep that facet of your humanity and fight to preserve it. Your ability to make that choice is what defines your humanity, so always keep that in mind. Before we start covering anything though, there's one thing that needs to be done first and foremost.