Common Sense? Really?

You know how the conversation goes. Persons A and B are debating a topic in which they have differing opinions. Person A seeks to put the kibosh on it by invoking “Common Sense” with their viewpoint accepted as truth. The unspoken message is Person B is lacking in said common sense and if they had it they would be in agreement with Person A.  Person A is representing themselves as being one who sees truth by perceiving the situation through their own senses.

Common sense is called common because everyone is supposed to have it.

That means you would have to had experience with the topic for the senses to take in information. That also supposes that everyone else would have had the same exact experience and processed it through their senses in the same way. For that to happen we would all have the same previously developed neurological pathways that connect new learning with previously learned information. How often would that happen? Not very often.  

According to Psychology Today, common sense is indeed not common. Maybe that’s not news to you and me but here is an understanding I would not have considered if I had not read about it.  Think about this statement: “Reality and truth are not the same.” Reality is the real situations people find themselves in but situations and in turn, people’s reality, can change. One person’s reality doth not truth make. (I decided that sentence needed to be written sagely.)

In short, no one may pass off reality as they experience it as common sense as another person may experience a different reality.  Reality is not the same as truth. A person who tries to invoke “common sense” as truth (often I see to try to win a debate) is sadly mistaken. At this point, the idea of common sense completely flies out the window. Where does that leave us? Where do we go from here?

We could consider common sense to be a form of common knowledge. This is true in so far as a number of people, but not all, have experienced the same reality. We can recognize it for what it is and what it is not. It is our personal reality but it is not enough information to make it truth. When finding oneself in a discussion involving different knowledge based on different experiences and a different reality, we have the opportunity to expand our own knowledge set and respectfully share our own. If we do so many times we might be able to form an understanding that approaches truth. It might not be completely true as exceptions seem to be the norm, but at least you are in a better position to speak knowledgably on a topic without sounding as if you have no common sense!  Ha!

It could happen that we find ourselves in more productive conversations and fewer debates which go nowhere. We may get somewhere from here if that is the case.

Source: Why "Common Sense" Is Not So Common | Psychology Today