You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘science’ tag.
It is present in everyone as an innate rational ability to determine what is favorable, what is harmful, what in compliance with the protocols of the society in which one lives, what is moral and what is immoral. By its very nature, common sense is not readily objectifiable. Unlike physical quantities, it cannot be directly demonstrated in a concrete form or measured through standard mathematical or empirical methods
Common sense has so far resisted complete mathematical formalization and precise empirical measurement by any method including Newtonian methods of knowledge study – dividing the larger problem into smaller entities and studying the smaller components to arrive at the properties and behavior of the subject at hand.
Many philosophers discussed the topic of common sense in their writings over time. Rene Descartes, Thomas Reid and others. I particularly like the passage from Rene Descartes quoted below.
Rene Descartes wrote in Discourses on method – “Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for everyone thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even who are the most difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a larger measure of this quality than they already possess.”
Don’t search for centers of academic excellence or universities for a course on common sense. You will be disappointed to note there is no single course to establish what it is and how to become a master in common sense. I advise you not to confuse courses on logic as courses on common sense. So long as our behavior is not deterministic, logic cannot help us. In severe panic, greed, fear and anger most of us behave contrary to common sense, in some cases akin to self-destruction. A day later we question ourselves – why did I not use common sense? Having common sense alone is not sufficient; one must be willing to act upon it while rationally evaluating one’s actions under all conditions.
In this world of billions of people, common sense may be very close to a common denominator hidden deep in the psyche of humans. This subject of common sense needs to be studied further to identify its common defects, incorrect calibrations, false feedback mechanisms from everyday life experiences. Let us study common sense and its application in future.
