Common Sense is not so Common

Nor as ordinary or sensible as it seems

Hi dear one.

Common sense, you know, that sound judgment derived from experience rather than study, is like the holy grail of qualities in the world today. It's supposed to bring to mind a simpler era when hardworking people shaped our society into what it is today, back when things were a bit more straightforward.

But let's get real for a second. Common sense isn't exactly widespread, and it's not as sensible as it sounds. These days, it feels more like there's a shortage of sound judgment, though who knows if it's worse than before. If common sense was really common, people wouldn't be making questionable decisions left and right. We wouldn't be buying stuff we can't afford, puffing away on cigarettes or munching on junk food.  Basically, we wouldn't be doing all the stuff that's obviously not great for us.

And let's be honest, common sense isn't exactly supreme wisdom if we define sense as, you know, sound judgment. Relying solely on experience doesn't always give us the full scoop of how to make reliable decisions. Honestly, I'm starting to think common sense is a bit of a contradiction. Real sense usually needs more than just personal experiences, and most people's life stories are kinda limited.

This whole common sense thing seems like a trick pulled by our culture of ideologies, those groups who want to tell us how to think and what to do. They want us to be a bit clueless, ill informed, and not the best at decision making. People often toss around the idea of common sense, suggesting that others might be a bit out of touch. But honestly, making questionable decisions is a universal talent that doesn't really care about political labels, as our public policy players so kindly demonstrate. Politicians, in my eyes, are the masters of the art of promising everything and delivering... well, mostly speeches.

The term common implies that lots of people share this sense thing. But thinking that something makes sense just because many people think so has been proven wrong time and time again. Sometimes, it's the ones accused of lacking common sense who show that what's supposed to be common sense is not just sense but totally off-base. Plus, common sense often gets thrown around by folks who don't have the real knowledge or expertise to make legit judgments.