People are becoming less independent. Now that we have all this technology, we don't have to work as hard, true, but we're slowly starting to forget how things work without technology around. Technology=less mistakes, less mistakes=less experience in what doesn't work, which ultimately means we're becoming less adept to coming to our own conclusions and developing "common sense".
Knowledge is having information. Wisdom is being able to understand that information and derive something more from it. Common sense (or common sensibility) lays inbetween the two. It is having information which is common to most everyone and being able to figure out an obvious connection to something else. Like if you use fire to cook then that same fire should be hot enough to also burn, so you shouldn't stick your hand in it. People used to have a common upbringing in the society in which they resided. Since the basic things they all knew were common amoungst them, then it was possible for all to have a common sensibility concerning those things. That has changed drastically over the past century. The world and its many cultures are where a lot of us now reside, mainly due to access to the internet. And fields of study have vastly grown so that most people specialize and have a limited commonality amoungst the rest of humanity. So without that commonality there can be no common sense.
There is still common sense to be had in smaller groupings of people with common knowledge and experiences, at least to the extent of that common knowledge and experiences. So, for example, a cook could rightly berate another cook for not having the common sense to remove a pot from the stovetop when the food in that pot had finished cooking. Since they both should have a shared experience in the fundamentals of cooking, then there should be a common sensibility for them both to have concerning the basics of cooking.
I remember a bumper sticker from the early 70's: "Common Sense Isn't."
I'm not sure it ever was.
If you are asking about the general decline in moral fiber and knowledge base, I think it is like real-estate: location, location, location.
Where I live now, there are a lot of people who know how to take care of themselves with common repairs to cars, common maintenance of homes, and common financial choices. I've lived places where people didn't show much sense of any sort.
HOwever, the way you phrase the question makes it sound as if it is a new problem or at least a more serious problem. I don't think it is new. My mother grew up using the expression "he didn't know enough to pound sand in a rat hole" meaning he couldn't do the most basic of tasks. I've heard the expression from others that "he couldn't pound salt." I'm not sure of the origins of either version.
My father, a sailor in WWII, would say that someone "wouldn't know sh*t from apple butter." He also used "shinola" in place of the apple butter. My oldest uncles, WWI era vets, said, "he couldn't tell his *ss from a hole in the ground." Another observation would be that he couldn't find his butt with both hands.
I would be surprised to learn that cavemen did NOT complain that people were confused about the difference between fire and farts.
The easy access to information and it abundance is a way for people to slip in their agendas to the mass who seem to be distracted. People are being heavily indoctrinated with bogus false ideas that they automatically accept as true, even though it goes against all common sense. Self-educated now means 'googled it' or watching sound bites from tv and new broadcast.
Because we have an overabundance of iPhones, cheeseburgers, cars, television, sex, shopping malls and politicians. Maybe if every book store that opened up didn't close down a couple months down the line, common sense might be more common.
if there ever will be a time when people get over their mental illness (which is stupidity), and start to use their heads seriously enough, it will be a jump leap in evolution for man kind.
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People are becoming less independent. Now that we have all this technology, we don't have to work as hard, true, but we're slowly starting to forget how things work without technology around. Technology=less mistakes, less mistakes=less experience in what doesn't work, which ultimately means we're becoming less adept to coming to our own conclusions and developing "common sense".
Knowledge is having information. Wisdom is being able to understand that information and derive something more from it. Common sense (or common sensibility) lays inbetween the two. It is having information which is common to most everyone and being able to figure out an obvious connection to something else. Like if you use fire to cook then that same fire should be hot enough to also burn, so you shouldn't stick your hand in it. People used to have a common upbringing in the society in which they resided. Since the basic things they all knew were common amoungst them, then it was possible for all to have a common sensibility concerning those things. That has changed drastically over the past century. The world and its many cultures are where a lot of us now reside, mainly due to access to the internet. And fields of study have vastly grown so that most people specialize and have a limited commonality amoungst the rest of humanity. So without that commonality there can be no common sense.
There is still common sense to be had in smaller groupings of people with common knowledge and experiences, at least to the extent of that common knowledge and experiences. So, for example, a cook could rightly berate another cook for not having the common sense to remove a pot from the stovetop when the food in that pot had finished cooking. Since they both should have a shared experience in the fundamentals of cooking, then there should be a common sensibility for them both to have concerning the basics of cooking.
I remember a bumper sticker from the early 70's: "Common Sense Isn't."
I'm not sure it ever was.
If you are asking about the general decline in moral fiber and knowledge base, I think it is like real-estate: location, location, location.
Where I live now, there are a lot of people who know how to take care of themselves with common repairs to cars, common maintenance of homes, and common financial choices. I've lived places where people didn't show much sense of any sort.
HOwever, the way you phrase the question makes it sound as if it is a new problem or at least a more serious problem. I don't think it is new. My mother grew up using the expression "he didn't know enough to pound sand in a rat hole" meaning he couldn't do the most basic of tasks. I've heard the expression from others that "he couldn't pound salt." I'm not sure of the origins of either version.
My father, a sailor in WWII, would say that someone "wouldn't know sh*t from apple butter." He also used "shinola" in place of the apple butter. My oldest uncles, WWI era vets, said, "he couldn't tell his *ss from a hole in the ground." Another observation would be that he couldn't find his butt with both hands.
I would be surprised to learn that cavemen did NOT complain that people were confused about the difference between fire and farts.
Personally, I love the alliteration.
The easy access to information and it abundance is a way for people to slip in their agendas to the mass who seem to be distracted. People are being heavily indoctrinated with bogus false ideas that they automatically accept as true, even though it goes against all common sense. Self-educated now means 'googled it' or watching sound bites from tv and new broadcast.
Because we have an overabundance of iPhones, cheeseburgers, cars, television, sex, shopping malls and politicians. Maybe if every book store that opened up didn't close down a couple months down the line, common sense might be more common.
Because common sense is a super power.
no longer? when did it ever was?
the world is and was crazy!, people are stupid.
if there ever will be a time when people get over their mental illness (which is stupidity), and start to use their heads seriously enough, it will be a jump leap in evolution for man kind.
Never was. "common sense" is a morally loaded praise which is used as a put down
Common sense is irrational. Thankfully it is on it's way out.
i enjoy my common sense abandoning me occasionally.
makes me who i am.