The Sense of Common Sense
Your brain is to key to all of your decisions, including common sense.
Naturally, one’s own instincts rule over everything. One path is filled with thorns, and the other is clear; the choice is obvious. Common sense is essential to human survival, as it is the base of all decisions. Now, what is common sense? Some might think the answer is quite obvious; common sense is everything that just makes sense. When examining the word “common sense,” both words have distinct meanings. The word “common” refers to something available to everyone, from the common population to the higher up. The word “sense” refers to the ability to stimulate the five senses and be able to recognize them. Mashing those two words together, you get the definition of the knowledge that is widely known. When walking towards a hot stove, there wouldn’t be a delay in the thought of not touching the stove. Blatantly, it would be ignorant to touch it, the opposite of common sense. Making practical decisions with thought-out judgments presents the scenario being answered in the most logical way possible, leading to the quickest optimal outcome.
The Power of Adaption
Human decision-making is composed of various factors: opinions, beliefs, and culture. Regardless of background, common sense can always be applied regardless of everything else. “Mental models are about the cultural and symbolic stuff of thought that is used in sense-making” (Samson, 2015). The more people are trained to think about their environments such as family and workplaces, the more they think of their influence thinking instead of common sense. Going back in time to the stone age with primitive ancestors, there was no room for opinions, beliefs, and culture; their only motive was survival. Since the dawn of time, humans have had to learn, adapt, and trust their own instincts to survive. Without that knowledge, there would be no human race as there is now. There has always been a need to think based on common instincts. In the primitive stage of life, if one died from eating a certain fruit, then it would become obvious not to eat that same fruit. It would become common knowledge to avoid the fruit in order to live another day. Adapting to these changes as more and more information became more common, the survival rate of the species increased, resulting in what it is today.
Common Sense = Survival
Common sense rooted in opinions and beliefs can affect the way someone views a problem and their “common sense” answer. The infamous Trolley Problem, developed by Phillippa Foot in 1967, is argued by many. By being an onlooker, you see a train about to pick a side as the railroad tracks are splitting. Farther ahead on one side there are five people working on the track while on the other side there is only one. The onlooker cannot yell but there is a lever to change the direction of the train. Would one be killed for the sake of saving five? To some, the answer would be quite simple, like common sense. The one would be killed to save the other five. Most people's brains are wired to think about survival, and when it comes down to survival, it is just common sense. That is why most would immediately save the five; the more you save, the more survive. More survival would ultimately lead to human survival increasing. Though some might argue that the Trolley Problem is meant to see people’s way to deal with their ethical side, many do not realize psychology is just common sense with a different name. The study of the mind and behavior comes down to general knowledge of everything that just makes sense. “We are not as selfish as we might think and don’t make decisions in isolation.” (Samson, 2015).
In Conclusion
From generation to generation, ancestors of the people have used common sense. That is the reason humanity is here right now, living and thriving. It has helped everyone avoid miscalculated mistakes that would later result in terrible consequences. This has always been the basis of every decision, which has essentially served human survival.
SOURCES:
Barratt, Joel. “Blog.” The Power of Common Sense, 11 Sept. 2021, https://www.commonsensepower.com/blog/.
Samson, Alain. “Making Sense of Common Sense.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 27 Aug. 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/consumed/201508/making-sense-common-sense?scrlybrkr =63f92b64.