http://www.commonsense4.us/2009/06/what-is-the-world-short-of/ Common Sense for Us, the People of the United States Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:09:46 -0700 http://wordpress.org/ hourly 1 http://www.commonsense4.us/2009/06/what-is-the-world-short-of/comment-page-1/#comment-12 El Zorro Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:00:30 +0000 http://www.commonsense4.us/?p=57#comment-12 The problem with "common" sense is that in a populated world, everything truly "common" is either void or mediocre. Anything that is generic enough to represent adequately a large group of people, be it thought, or "sense", is going to be so narrow that it is unlikely to be of high-value to anyone. Moreover, it's the uncommon man or woman who shows us the way to something better: the Edison, the Mozart, the Galileo. It's the uncommon thought, the uncommon sense that can transcend us. In fact, I'd argue that there is no such thing as common sense. Bring 5 people in a room and you get 5 different variations of "common" sense. What people often mean by common sense is: "this is the way I think things ought to be, and I think of myself as a reasonable person, therefore everyone should concede that my opinions are sensible and right". Now that I think about it, I believe I shall be writing a book on "uncommon sense"; then I shall get my own TV show where I too shall cry in front of the camera nightly about my love for the country... The problem with “common” sense is that in a populated world, everything truly “common” is either void or mediocre. Anything that is generic enough to represent adequately a large group of people, be it thought, or “sense”, is going to be so narrow that it is unlikely to be of high-value to anyone. Moreover, it’s the uncommon man or woman who shows us the way to something better: the Edison, the Mozart, the Galileo. It’s the uncommon thought, the uncommon sense that can transcend us. In fact, I’d argue that there is no such thing as common sense. Bring 5 people in a room and you get 5 different variations of “common” sense. What people often mean by common sense is: “this is the way I think things ought to be, and I think of myself as a reasonable person, therefore everyone should concede that my opinions are sensible and right”. Now that I think about it, I believe I shall be writing a book on “uncommon sense”; then I shall get my own TV show where I too shall cry in front of the camera nightly about my love for the country…

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