"That's common sense, you know..." - well, I don't! What is common sense?

Question

Is Common sense inherent, or is it learnt?

Answer 1

it is both
if you are taught common sense by your parents, you will likely perpetuate it.
If you are not taught it, you can learn it but it takes work.
Begin with morality - have an open mind - listen to and absorb what those around you are saying....

If you are cooking and the pan starts to smoke - your common sense will tell you to take the pan off of the stove and into the sink
If your best friend is crying because he lost a loved one, your common sense will tell you to comfort him.
If you say "I think I will paint my toenails and fingernails green and dye my hair bright yellow with pink streaks" and you have a job interview tomorrow at an insurance company - your common sense should tell you that this is a bad idea as you will likely not get the job.
It's common sense to turn off a light when you leave the room
It's common sense to say I'm sorry if you've hurt someone's feelings
Common sense is morality, generosity, prudence, awareness, quest for knowledge, following the rules, asking when you don't know.....
good question!

Answer 2

The wonderful thing about common sense is that it is not very common.

Common sense is knowing how to deal with a given situation. For instance, if you are walking down some stairs and there is a box on the steps. You would avoid it or step over it because it is common sense to do that rather than ignore it and fall over it.

I think it is debateable whether it is learned or whether it is innate. You need to be born with enough brain cells and not too much stubborness to learn when you are a kid that eating worms and mud is not good for you.

Answer 3

Broadly speaking, "common sense" means the incoherent wt of generally held assumptions and beliefs common to any given society, while 'good sense" means practical empirical common sense in the English sense of the term.


I believe it is learned...20 years ago it was ok to drive without a seat belt but now common sense tells you it is NOT ok to do that, back then it wasn't common sense.

My friend has no common sense...she lives in a world all her own and never thinks of the consequences of the decisions she makes.

Answer 4

It is the least common thing on earth its supposed to be the things you just pick up by living in a society for example not spitting at the dinner table because other ppl dont means that knowing that you shouldnt do that is "common sense"

Answer 5

Well, it's definitely not "learnt", but it is learned through common knowlege and just general living. Everyone has common sense, that's why it's called "common" sense, because we all share it.

Answer 6

One meaning of the term common sense (or as an adjective, commonsense/common-sense or as an adverb, commonsensical) on a strict construction of the term, is what people in common would agree; that which they "sense" in common as their common natural understanding. Some use the phrase to refer to beliefs or propositions that in their opinion they consider would in most people's experience be prudent and of sound judgment, without dependence upon esoteric knowledge or study or research, but based upon what is believed to be knowledge held by people "in common". The knowledge and experience most people have, or are believed to have by the person using the term.

Answer 7

common sense is stuff that most people should know.

Like its common sense not to put a fork in an electrical outlet.

Its common sense not to touch a hot stove.

Get it?

Answer 8

Common sense is what I believe that everyone else should believe. After all, if I believe it, and I'm always right, then everyone else should believe it too, right? So it is only common sense, and if you disagree, you are wrong. Of course, that means that my common sense and your common sense aren't the same thing.

Answer 9

i hate this term common sense

what that means is to assume something based on the fact that society has accepted it

personal investigation and the scientific method ought to be the means of figuring out the truth and gaining knowledge

im sure that at one point in human history it was "common sense" that the earth was flat because otherwise we'd fall off, right?

thank you for asking this

common sense is for idiots who don't want to think past what they've been told

Answer 10

Common sense is the refinement and development of the humans self survival instinct. As we have evolved and our brains have become more complex, it is the extension of that primitive response. It enables us to judge our responses to stimuli and make informed decisions as to the most appropriate response.
However, it is not an equally developed sense in all humans.
I don't subscribe to the view that you can see how well developed it is by looking at the size of a woman's chest or the colour of her hair!