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One word or two? Webster’s online dictionary says ‘common sense’ is two words. A Dictionary of Sociology (1998) uses the one-word version: commonsense.
Is this sense simply something that we share with all ‘lower life forms’?
“According to Aristotle, the common sense is an actual power of inner sensation (as opposed to the external five senses) whereby the various objects of the external senses (color for sight, sound for hearing, etc.) are united and judged, such that what one senses by this sense is the substance (or existing thing) in which the various attributes inhere (so, for example, a sheep is able to sense a wolf, not just the color of its fur, the sound of its howl, its odor, and other sensible attributes.)
It was not, unlike later developments, considered to be on the level of rationality, which properly did not exist in the lower animals, but only in man; this irrational character was because animals not possessing rationality nevertheless required the use of the common sense in order to sense, for example, the difference between this or that thing….”
Or does ‘common sense – commonsense’ require a social awareness of our selves as being connected to other members of our species on a conscious level?
Is there anything about ‘common sense – commonsense’ that requires of us that we use our higher-specie’s more complex abilities of rational thought and critical thinking?
“”Fluid Intelligence” directly correlates with critical thinking skills. You are able to determine patterns, make connections and solve new problems. When you improve your critical thinking skills you also improve your fluid intelligence which also helps increase your problem solving skills and deep thinking elements. All of these skills relate to one part of the brain, and the more you use them the easier it will be to put your skill to the test.”
According to the Wickipedia entry for Critical thinking, it calls for the ability to:
- Recognize problems, to find workable means for meeting those problems
- Understand the importance of prioritization and order of precedence in problem solving
- Gather and marshal pertinent (relevant) information
- Recognize unstated assumptions and values
- Comprehend and use language with accuracy, clarity, and discernment
- Interpret data, to appraise evidence and evaluate arguments
- Recognize the existence (or non-existence) of logical relationships between propositions
- Draw warranted conclusions and generalizations
- Put to test the conclusions and generalizations at which one arrives
- Reconstruct one’s patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider experience
- Render accurate judgments about specific things and qualities in everyday life
Oh dear. Sounds like WORK to me! As opposed to critical thinking, commonsense (I will use this one word because I like it better) seems to simply become a part of us by osmosis. We simply grow into adults who have naturally absorbed the ‘common’ understandings about people-in-the-world in alliance with what our culture suggests to us. Questioning either/or our understandings or those of our culture TAKES WORK – and work takes time and committed focus and effort.
In my own thinking if I divide commonsense in half I come up with two other important words: MYTH and DEBUNKING. Unless we choose to think critically using fluid intelligence about matters of grave importance to the well-being of people, we can be contributing to other people’s suffering through perpetration of harmful myths without even knowing it – because we haven’t THOUGHT about the problems using the higher brain functions our species has been gifted with.
When it comes to the well-being of infants and children in our nation, commonsense and cultural mythical thinking appears to have the upper hand. Few wish to examine the actual facts about the increasingly abysmal conditions that REALLY exist for our nation’s little ones so that CREATIVE SOLUTIONS can be found and implemented to improve those conditions.
I am left feeling hopeless, helpless, overwhelmed, and full of sorrow, concern and fear about the lack of well-being for at least half of our nation’s infants, toddlers, children and teens in America whose optimal needs are not being met during the critical growth periods of their development. As our nation’s offspring suffer so too is our nation suffering.
The FACTS of the situation are grim. As long as we deny the facts by sticking to commonsense opinions that are NOT based on facts, we as a nation are going to continue to slide backwards. As a nation we need to take off our ‘rose colored glasses’ and begin to examine what we think we know about the well-being of infant-children by examining HOW we think about the problems they face and the suffering they are enduring. It’s the least we can do – and hopefully it will help us move into the myth debunking stage of our thinking that we – and our nation’s offspring — so desperately need.
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“This refers, unsurprisingly, to routine knowledge we have of our everyday world and activities.
“Different sociological approaches adopt different attitudes to commonsense knowledge… [as it] refers to organized ‘typified’ stocks of taken-for-granted knowledge, upon which our activities are based, and which, in the ‘natural attitude’, we do not question. …, commonsense (or, as it is frequently termed, ‘tacit’) knowledge is a constant achievement, in which people draw on implicit rules of ‘how to carry on’, which produce a sense of organization and coherence…. the central aim of sociology is seen as explicating and elaborating on people’s conceptions of the social world, and sociological analysis must always be rooted in these conceptions.”
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By Elizabeth M. Young
“Sociology is the science of human interaction and social behavior. Common sense is the indigenous knowledge that comes from living and interacting in the real world and coming to conclusions that are passed on orally. Science looks for either evidence or a compelling argument that is supported by serious examination of the evidence or by the best possible theoretical design and testing of hypotheses.
“Sometimes they are the same. Sometimes they are vastly different in the rigors of testing and confirmation of deductions and inferences. Sometimes both deal with very complex matters and sometimes both deal with simple matters.
“Common sense can be indigenous knowledge that has developed and been proven to be successful over long periods of time in dealing with the world, people, society and nature.
“Over time, common sense identifies the productive, defensive and reactive practices that result in success and survival. In some cases, there is no objective, factual support for some practices. In other cases, the predictability of nature provides the factual and logical support for certain practices.
“Generalization is more possible with Sociological conclusions that are made from data that comes from wider sources, is less personalized and is collected in greater detail. Generalization can be less possible with common sense because of the limited, localized and personalized nature of experience, observation and understandings.
“Some taxpayers use common sense to assume that welfare recipients are mostly lazy people who just want to live off of the dole and who do not want to work. The reality is that a majority of welfare recipients are either elderly, disabled, or otherwise unable to work, are only temporary recipients, or are fully employed but making low enough wages to qualify for specific welfare benefits and programs.
“Sociologists can access the databases of the social services agency and make rigorous examination of the detailed welfare information. The average taxpayer usually has access to media reports and very limited data that is filled with non objective opinion, bias and factual error.
“Sociologists might study the economic, political, social and other conditions under disciplines of objectivity, ethics, rigorous methods of quantifying and collecting data, proving causality, modeling and other methods that can be more limited and capricious when developing common sense conclusions.
“The results are always to be tested against common sense that comes from real world, practical applications of ideas, policies and programs. All regional, national or international programs are implemented at peril of being found inadequate to handle localized realities. Thus, common sense, through surveys, notice and comment periods, and even lawsuits, is often taken seriously when large programs are being developed.
“To complicate matters, there may have been more objectivity when the common sense understanding was developed, while the sociological result might have involved less objectivity. Both science and common sense might be supported by factually volatile oral histories, casually completed records, or by detailed records that can are [sic] highly reliable.
“In summary, common sense develops from interacting personally and locally with the world and developing informal understandings and conclusions that explain things to personal and local satisfaction. Sociology uses the scientific method to get to the reality and truth of matters in ways that can be challenged and tested again and again and that generalize to more of the world.
“In reality common sense, indigenous knowledge, and scientific method work together as the backbones of the social sciences.” [all bold type emphasis is mine]
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Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials by Diana Elizabeth Kendall (Dec 2, 2008)
“Sociology promotes understanding and tolerance by enabling each of us to look beyond intuition, commonsense, and our personal experiences. Many of us rely on intuition or common sense gained from personal experience to help us understand our daily lives and other people’s behavior. Commonsense knowledge guides ordinary conduct in everyday life. However, many commonsense notions are actually myths. A myth is a popular but false notion that may be used, either intentionally or unintentionally, to perpetuate certain beliefs of “theories” even in the light of conclusive evidence to the contrary. (page 5)” [bold type for emphasis is mine]
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“Sociology and other social sciences focus on the study of certain aspects of human behavior. Yet human behavior is something with which we all have experience and about which we have at least a bit of knowledge. In our daily lives, we rely on common sense to get us through many unfamiliar situations. However, this knowledge while sometimes accurate is not always reliable because it rests on commonly held beliefs rather than systematic analysis of facts. Sociology and other social sciences focus on the study of certain aspects of human.
“Common sense is knowledge and awareness that is held communally (shared by majority of people). It does not depend on specialist education and in some respects states the obvious…. Many sociologists have responded that common sense is wrong and obvious truths are not so obvious.”
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Common sense, “based on a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on : that which they “sense” as their common natural understanding. Some people (such as the authors of Merriam-Webster Online) use the phrase to refer to beliefs or propositions that — in their opinion — most people would consider prudent and of sound judgment, without reliance on esoteric knowledge or study or research, but based upon what they see as knowledge held by people “in common”. Thus “common sense” (in this view) equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have. Another meaning to the phrase is good sense and sound judgment in practical matters.”
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“Debunking is a process of questioning actions and ideas that are usually taken for granted. It refers to looking behind the facade of everyday life. It refers to looking at the behind-the-scenes patterns and processes that shape the behavior observed in the social world (Andersen & Taylor, 2001:6).” (Based on the work of Dr. Peter Berger)
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According to Martin Teicher, MD, PhD, director of the Developmental Biopsychiatry Research Program, “science shows that childhood maltreatment may produce changes in both brain function and structure. These changes are permanent. This is not something people can just get over and get on with their lives.”
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+U.N. REPORT CARD ON CHILD WELL-BEING AMONG GLOBE’S 24 RICHEST COUNTRIES: AMERICA FLUNKS!
+THE UNITED NATION’S REPORT CARD ON AMERICA’S CHILD WELL-BEING – THE WIDE GULF BETWEEN THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTS: AM I IMPASSIONED OR EMBITTERED?
+CLEAR ARTICLE ON LIFELONG INFANT-CHILD TRAUMA CONSEQUENCES
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Stop the Storm 