A glass bottle is broken in the middle of the street, and as common sense would tell anyone, it is probably best to avoid and walk around it. However, if everyone embodied this practical and sound judgment, then why do people still smoke cigarettes despite knowing the effects to their body? The question is then this: is common sense really so, common? The Oxford dictionary definition states common sense as “good sense and sound judgement in practical matters.” The problem within the definition of this phrase is if this ideology were true, then how can we explain the poor decisions we make everyday? Although defined as being good sense and judgment, common sense has proven to sometimes be unreliable in decision making for every response.
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The sense should be better looked as snap judgment, or impulse, based on personal experience. Therefore, it is not always useful and can certainly be irrational. An example of this is eating McDonald’s regularly, or even at all. The brain’s actual rational thinking would tell anyone McDonald’s is not a healthy choice for a meal, yet, when passing those golden arches people still make snap judgments to pull the car over and indulge in a Big Mac. This begs the question that if common sense were actually practical and rational judgment, then why are these decisions still being made, and what then determines common …show more content…
Intuition is seen by Merriam-Webster as “the ability to understand something immediately”, without the need for conscious reasoning. This is important when discussing common sense because our reactions that fall under this idea tend to be quick impulses that don’t require much logical reasoning, if any at all. A speeding car is steadily approaching as someone stands in the middle of the street. Common sense kicks into gear and they quickly run out of the way. This type of common sense, although frequently thought of as a practical judgment, is better categorized as a result of our intuition working. In this situation, there was not enough time to come up with a logical reasoning for this decision. And although this response would typically be common for nearly everyone, this common sense is neither due to practical judgments or intellectual thinking. Common sense is more suitably defined as decisions we make as a result of our experiences and
The sense should be better looked as snap judgment, or impulse, based on personal experience. Therefore, it is not always useful and can certainly be irrational. An example of this is eating McDonald’s regularly, or even at all. The brain’s actual rational thinking would tell anyone McDonald’s is not a healthy choice for a meal, yet, when passing those golden arches people still make snap judgments to pull the car over and indulge in a Big Mac. This begs the question that if common sense were actually practical and rational judgment, then why are these decisions still being made, and what then determines common …show more content…
Intuition is seen by Merriam-Webster as “the ability to understand something immediately”, without the need for conscious reasoning. This is important when discussing common sense because our reactions that fall under this idea tend to be quick impulses that don’t require much logical reasoning, if any at all. A speeding car is steadily approaching as someone stands in the middle of the street. Common sense kicks into gear and they quickly run out of the way. This type of common sense, although frequently thought of as a practical judgment, is better categorized as a result of our intuition working. In this situation, there was not enough time to come up with a logical reasoning for this decision. And although this response would typically be common for nearly everyone, this common sense is neither due to practical judgments or intellectual thinking. Common sense is more suitably defined as decisions we make as a result of our experiences and