Is Common Sense Dead?

While deciding what to write about this week, I thought of how common sense seems to be absent in much of today's life. When you hear such silly and inane statements such as, “you'll have to pass the bill to see what's in it" or “go outside and shoot a shotgun twice in the air,” I begin to wonder if common sense will ever be a part of life again. From Thomas Payne to today, many people have written on the subject. Some from a purely intellectual view point and others from a purely “tongue in cheek” attitude.

Either way, the authors are concerned about the loss of common sense that seems to be quite pervasive in our world today. Common Sense is defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” The key here is the word “simple,” meaning “readily understood.”

I suspect “common sense” could be conceived as understanding a situation or facts, their consequences, and acting or responding reasonably to them in a sensible period of time.

Of course, there are many others who have been dumbed down for so long that common sense no longer is available to them. I believe this sensibility is innate, and life plus one's surroundings nurture it or destroy it. As a physician for over 40 years now, I witnessed the loss of common sense in my practice over the years. Questions from and responses to questions from patients have become more and more bizarre over these last two decades. It is as if some strange process has grown within the minds of the populace. Once considered intelligent and educated people have become seemingly irrational to the most obvious of issues.

What has happened to common sense? In my opinion, and I'm sure there will be folks who disagree, several causes are evident. The nurturing of common sense by parents and family has been diminished and maybe dismantled. Parents are too busy to concentrate on expanding rational thought in their children relying on schools and teachers who are too busy with their "dumbing down"curriculum to bother developing this important sensibility. Giving kids the chance to figure out for themselves what is to be and what should not be is a basis for developing common sense. Schools don't to have the time or knowledge to do either. 

The enormous overburdening of Americans by laws, regulations, rules, edicts, and orders stifles the imagination, another component of the common sense. Just the presence of those entities causes consternation, bewilderment, fear of making a mistake, and keeping oneself under the radar for fear of being exposed as an smart individual, all adding to protecting ourselves rather than allowing us to make decisions based on well founded instincts. A better way of saying it is, without Common Sense, we equivocate or beat around the bush and never to come to any decisions on our own.

Just look at Congress. Is there anyone there that doesn't equivocate? This is a political art form now and a must to continue one's career. Anyone who stands for principle and uses common sense to establish a conclusion is maligned and attacked. Repeatedly attempting to support policies that have been proven wrong over decades illustrates no common sense. Our country would be better off if politicians would only use it. The complete lack of it is most evident in their daily microcosm of Washington, DC. When it comes to politics, common sense seems to have been subordinated or totally eliminated by irrational party platforms. 

Have you ever been in a situation where the rules are the rules and nothing can change them even if the rules are imbecilic and archaic, and no one pipes up to challenge them.? How about the veteran with both arms amputated being asked for fingerprints before cashing a check? A child suspended for chewing a pop-tart in the possible form of a gun? How about a congressman fearing the island of Guam may tip over because there may be too many people on it? The high school student reprimanded for wearing an American flag on his shirt because it may offend someone? Who? Americans? The congresswoman who stated 170 million jobs would be lost because of the sequester when only 150 million people are actually working?

You've heard all of these. What is lacking here? Yep, No Common Sense. The ability to just think simply and understand one's thoughts before speaking is another aspect of it.

Has common sense died? Does it ever have a chance of being resurrected? Only you can make that decision. I hope you have the common sense to do so.