What is common sense?

Common sense is the ability to make logical, intelligent decisions, especially in everyday matters. It’s based on sound reasoning or information that’s not based on specialized knowledge.

Good sense refers to our ability to make connections. A chain of thought uses logic and experience to deduce and understand a situation beyond the obvious.

Examples of common sense

• An example of common sense in action is just because someone we know jumps off a cliff, doesn’t mean that we should too.
• If you’re going to start a fight, throw the first punch and make it a good one.
• Don’t do the crime if you aren’t willing to do the time.

Why is common sense uncommon?

• Emotional decision-making
  

  Common sense is becoming uncommon since rational, objective decision-making has taken a backseat compared to making choices based on emotions.

  The most important reason is that people tend to let their emotions get the better of them instead of letting their common sense, wisdom, and intelligence reign supreme.

  Significant to remember that even the most rational human beings are prone to highly irrational behavior and decision-making. And irrationality is almost the archenemy of common sense.

• Different perspective

  Good sense depends on your perspective and expectations. The common sense a child applies, for example, will be vastly different from that of an adult.

• Ignorance

  
  

  Another important reason is that people tend to be ignorant of certain aspects of their lives.

  This ignorance in itself leads to an inability to apply sound judgment.

• Openness
  

  Furthermore, a lot of people lack the necessary amount of “openness” to reason appropriately.

  Lots of people are conditioned to believe certain things and to behave a particular way.

  Being possessed by other people’s ideas, thoughts, and behavior can lead to an inability to use common sense.

• Different people, different personalities

  

  No two people are the same from a “base” personality and through different life experiences.

  This means that almost everyone thinks that the way they see the world is the obvious and right way.

  However, through the eyes of another person, the applied common sense from the other individual can seem insensible and poorly rationalized.

• Lack of mental maturity

  Some people lack the mental maturity necessary to exhibit levelheadedness. It’s related to emotional, also commonly called practical intelligence.

  Just because someone is older in biological age doesn’t necessarily mean they’re mentally mature. Although common sense and wisdom are more common in older people than young individuals.

• Fragile egos

  Lastly, most people have large but fragile egos. And to protect those egos, we often opt to forego the better parts of our sensibleness.