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Common sense should not be defined as common knowledge. It is not describing a type of knowledge which one simply know or ignorant. Rather it describes a most g
by hzhou321 11y ago
Common sense should not be defined as common knowledge. It is not describing a type of knowledge which one simply know or ignorant. Rather it describes a most general type of critical thinking process where common people will reach the similar conclusion when they are asked to engage in the critical thinking.
For example, cutting vegetables. I would say it is a common sense to always put your holding figures on top (rather than under the vegetables or on the side). It is not a common knowledge -- for one, not all or quite a portion of our population never cut vegetables before so it can't be a common knowledge; and for two, many who try to cut vegetables will make mistakes of injuring their fingers due to lack this common sense.
However, it is a good example of common sense, if we imagine, that we ask any common people to think about the situation and devise or choose from a couple vegetable holding position, most of will reach the common conclusions.
Therefore, common sense is a common critical thinking process shared by us.
The problem with common sense is that most people -- or many of us most of the time -- do not engage in critical thinking, as a result, fail to benefit from common sense.
- squiggy22 11y agoI'll just paraphrase your last sentence. As that old adage goes. The problem with common sense is, its just not that common.
- cubix 11y ago> For example, cutting vegetables. I would say it is a common sense to always put your holding figures on top That's not actually what most experts advocate. Chefs are trained to hold from the side, but with their finger tips curled underneath their knuckles for protection. https://youtu.be/cV0c7qiNjuI?t=1m56s https://youtu.be/cV0c7qiNjuI?t=1m56s
- benihana 11y agoWhich is a perfect example of the fact that 'most commonly arrived at conclusion' doesn't always mean [other adjective] (best, safest, fastest, most efficient) conclusion.
- jessriedel 11y agoIf I had to pick a direction that that chef is holding the carrot from, it's "top".
- Retra 11y agoNow you're talking about uncommon sense.
- e40 11y agoI've been thinking a lot about this lately, because some people in my life are exhibiting a great lack of common sense. I think common sense is the ability to correctly prioritize possible solutions to problems, or to prioritize desires vs needs vs abilities. I often see people incorrectly prioritize solutions because they let their emotion and desires get in the way. When this happens, usually something bad happens and the person making the decision gets exasperated. Do they look to the root cause (their incorrect priorities)? Never. They always find an external cause or ignore the failure. It's incredibly frustrating to watch this happen in someone else.
- fapjacks 11y agoI can see where you're going with this and can agree with it, but feel like it's an incomplete definition. To use a quote (I think by Einstein, but I'm lazy and not looking it up): "Common sense is what tells you the Earth is flat." And it's true, this is "common sense", but it doesn't abide by your definition.