Is Common sense a learned behavior or does it come naturally?

Question

I seem to be coming across an extreme amount of highly educated people with a complete lack of common sense. I wanna know if its something that is taught to us or is it a chemical in the brain that gives some of us what seems to be this unique quality?

Answer 1

We are born with the ability to use common sense, however our enviroment decides how developed it becomes. Take for example engineers, they would depend on what is logical on paper, seldom do they look at other things that affect the efficiency of there design unless brought up by a person that is not trained in engineering. nothing against engineers it's that they deal in absolutes so often.

Answer 2

I think that common sense can be learned but many people posses it without being taught. Like a music director, her may not sing when he entered college but after singing classes and learning the notes and arrangements he can technically hold a tune but may not be a talented recording artist. Some people without "naturally occuring" common sense can learn it but still make boneheaded mistakes because they apply it like a formula even applying common sense itself takes common sense which some people may still lack. Maybe depending on thier own knowledge in the face of more accurate facts so I guess my point is you have it or you don't but you can minnimize the lack of common sense over time.

Answer 3

True common sense cannot be taught. It's a ability that some have and unfortunately some just don't. The more I talk to people, the more I think that I may be a minority when it comes to common sense.

Answer 4

Common sense is an oxymoron, it doesn't exist. People learn from experience, either from hard knocks or from the classroom. Hard knocks generally teach you what you should not do and allows you to make better real life decisions. That's why, despite a good education, when a person finishes college they still have to be trained by their employer. They have book knowledge but no real experience.

Answer 5

First of all consider the parochial nature of your response. While there are basic notions of good and bad conduct, these do not exist in a a vacuum, but are shaped and molded in our relationships with each other and the greater community. No behavior is inherently evil or good, but becomes so because we agree in community that it is so. because we are the same species there are core behaviors that are taboo cross culturally and others that are not. Secondly your understanding of theology is...well you simply don't understand it all. The concept of original sin holds that humanit is genetically damned to hell and became so because Adam and Eve disobeyed God. The notion does not hold that man's capacity for sin originated with Adam and Eve's disobedience. Clearly they had the capacity to sin before actually doing so. What is not "common sense" is that a supposed god of infinite love would pre-destine an entire species for eternal torment in hell because of the disobedience of one man and one woman, i.e. to convict us all and torture us all eternally for an act we did not commit. That is what is "barbaric." Burning naieve and inexperienced children in hell forever, which is what Adam and Eve were, because they ate fruit you told them no to eat. That's the equivalent of you sticking your child in a fired up pizza oven because they took a cookie from the cookie jar without your permission. If that is not barbarous to you, then you are hardly someone who should bandy about terms like "common sense."

Answer 6

I think that either you have it or you don't. Common sense cannot be learned. I always wondered why it is called "Common" sense when it is not common at all. I've run across more people without it than people with it.

Answer 7

Common sense is something you gain with life experience.
Or rather, one should gain it.
I think some people have no hope of ever having any common sense, because they've never been around or seen anyone displaying common sense.

Answer 8

This is actually a very interesting question.
I once saw a documentary or something about something very close to this.

First up, we should ask ourselves what common sense actually is? I think it's something close to just knowing what is the logical thing to do in a given situation without having to think about it (too much).
In fact, this comes very close to instinctive behaviour, just relying on your immediate impulses to guide you to the right course of action, instead of giving a certain subject a great deal of thought before reaching the most sound course of action.

But here's where things get interesting... every day in society, we get taught to ignore certain things, to override certain impulses because they don't conform to society's standards or would be in violation of a law or rule.
In the documentary I saw, there was an example of a lone woman who came home to her apartment building late at night. She presses the elevator button but when the door opens, this shady character is in the elevator, which instinctively gives her the creeps.
Now, her instinctive response is to not get into the elevator, because she senses it might be dangerous. But instead, she tells herself not to be silly and gets on the elevator anyway because she's not going to let the elevator pass because of one dodgy looking character.
The end of the story is that something happens to her... I don't remember what, maybe she got mugged or something.

So, I would like to ask you, was this common sense that made her get on the elevator, or was it common sense warning her not to?

I'd venture to say that common sense is a lot more complicated than just something we either get at birth or not, but instead is something that develops as we grow older. In essence it could be there, but life experience hones it.

My €0.02 :)

Answer 9

It comes naturally,but,it needs conditioning,to some extent,common sense is a relative term...
I'll give you an example,if a person puts his hand in the switch,he is doing something wrong,thats common sense
For a person who does not know what is electricity,its not common sense for him to avoid that..

Answer 10

All of us have been giving common sense or I like to think of it as FREE WILL, and its up to person to make decisions and live life by using there common sense intellectually