What happened to Good Ole Common Sense?

The more I look at people today, from politicians, parents, business leaders, and everyone in society, it amazes me how few people seem to have common sense. One of my mentors and heroes, Mark Twain, was famous for saying, “We need to stop calling it common sense. This assumes it’s common and everyone has it. We need to start calling it uncommon sense because so few people seem to have it.” This was said over 100 years ago by a common man. Yes, he was famous by today’s standards, but he was a common man.

When I look at the current behaviors, attitudes, decisions, and actions of teens, parents, and business leaders, I could list every profession and every season of life here, but I’m sure you know at least one person. which common sense seems to have left. them at birth, I find it hard to believe that so few people have simple common sense.

What exactly is common sense? Let me try to give you what I think is a common sense definition, but first, how about a professional definition? Solid working knowledge derived from experience rather than study. Or words like: rational, reasonable, consistent, coherent, valid, logical or solid. Well, it’s my turn.

Common sense is when you view a situation, decision, or action in a way that says out loud: yes, both short term and long term, this is a good or best course of action. It doesn’t matter what other people think or believe, as their beliefs and attitudes are derived from their unique and varied sources of mental conditioning and upbringing. Common sense, when all things are considered, is the only way to proceed based on a variety of factors; experience, knowledge, information, wisdom, goals, potential dangers, actual opportunities, and an internal emotional comfort level. It’s a state of mind similar to intuition, instinct or a hunch where it just feels right. But be warned: if you proceed solely based on your feelings or emotions without considering some of the other factors above, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment, frustration, or even failure.

Some people would assume that the older you get, the more common sense you’ll develop. MISTAKEN. Some people would assume that the more educated you are, the more common sense you will have. MISTAKEN. Some people would believe that the more experience you have, the more common sense you will develop. MISTAKEN. Some people say that the smarter you are, the more common sense you will have. MISTAKEN.

So why do so few people today seem to operate from a position of little to no common sense? Well, from my perspective there are several reasons. These are some of the most common:

– Personal diaries. Everyone has agendas. Some are noble while others are very selfish or egotistical. An agenda is nothing more than a life perspective or a mindset. But, this perspective, whether positive or negative, will tend to play a big role in how you behave, treat others, or interpret life in general. It will often control all of your actions, choices, decisions, and behaviors. A selfish agenda will cause you to override what may be right or what you think is best for yourself alone.

– Poor perceptual understanding. Everyone views life uniquely through a very personal mental filter. Something good for one person can be perceived as bad for the next person. It is not about what is right or wrong or good or bad, but about how each of us interprets the people and events in our lives. Your personal filter will determine how you react or respond to life, people or circumstances. If your filter is cluttered with a large number of negative situations and outcomes from the past, you will tend to let these guide your behavior rather than what makes sense given current conditions.

– A history of errors, failures, or errors in judgment. Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes or bad decisions from time to time. The problem occurs in the present when we let these memories have more control over our present than what is actually happening now. When we focus on the past or future and not on reality, we tend to bring a dysfunctional view to any given circumstance, thus overriding what seems right based on what is actually happening now.

– Fear in general. There are only two emotions: love and fear. Fear tends to be the dominant emotion in most people most often. If you have a choice to feel hope or discouragement, joy or pain, acceptance or non-acceptance, because of the way the human brain is wired, most people will come more often from a position of fear than love. (I am not referring here to romantic love.) When you act out of fear, you will tend to criticize your options, choices, or circumstances in a pessimistic way. Common sense, the best or the right, will be present, but it will be overridden by all the threats and concerns of fear.

– Concern for what or how others will think of them or about them. Many people who don’t use common sense often care more about how others work; seeing, defining or feeling about them or their behaviors or decisions than the person has or feels about themselves. I want to like you, but liking you is more important than liking you. If I’m true to myself, I may not make correct decisions all the time based on common sense, but at least I’m making them for my reasons and not yours.

– Dysfunction of the self. The ego wants to rule our lives. He doesn’t like to look bad and he certainly wants to play an important role in all of our choices, actions, and decisions. When common sense and the ego are at odds, the ego will win most of the time. He does not care what makes sense or what is best for him in the present or in the future: he must govern his life, he must make it visible; good, intelligent, competent, successful, etc. Damn common sense, is his mantra.

– Greed, selfishness or narcissism. Greed is the number one cause of all crime and the need to own more, have more, or do more, whether we deserve it or have earned it. Greed speaks volumes when it comes to how people behave, whether overtly or subtly. Greed, if it drives you, will always override what is best or right for you or for others. Selfishness is nothing more than a self-centered way of seeing life. It’s about what you get or have or own or who you are and how you behave with others and life in general. Selfishness says: I’m the only thing that matters, life revolves around me, so get on board and with me or you’re against me. Narcissism is nothing more than excessive self-admiration and egocentrism. In psychiatry, it is a personality disorder characterized by the patient’s overestimation of her own appearance and abilities and an excessive need for admiration. Do you think these people will ever come from a position of common sense?

– Stuck in the past or the future. The past with all its failures, mistakes, successes and achievements is gone. Living in either one will cause a person to not see current circumstances in their proper perspective. Yes, both are important: past lessons and experiences, as well as future goals and plans, but in the end, what you do now matters more than what you will do tomorrow or what you have done in the past. Common sense combines the best of yesterday and tomorrow and weaves them into appropriate and beneficial behaviors, actions, and decisions now.

– The inability to convert information and knowledge into wisdom. Information is not wisdom. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to use information and knowledge correctly given reality, potential results, historical experience, and personal goals. When a person lacks common sense, no matter how many titles he has, he will do dumb things for the wrong reasons and often regret it later in life.

– Emotional immaturity. No one matures at the same rate or pace. Each of us learns or unlearns valuable lessons as we move from year to year in our lives. Emotional maturity is the ability to view or view circumstances in a way that uses your experience, wisdom, intuition, and the information available at hand. Emotional immaturity is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to whatever happens, no matter how stupid the action or decision. No matter what, in our own mind we justify these often stupid behaviors or actions.

Yes, there are many others, but if you feel that you lack a credible amount of common sense and this lack is causing you more pain than necessary, why not consider the above causes in terms of how you live, make decisions, interpret life, do you evaluate others? or just go from one day to the next in your life.

I believe that if we all had more common sense or used more of what we have, we would experience much less stress, discouragement, frustration, anxiety, or any other negative emotion due to the uncertainty and adventure of life.

Do you want to gain more common sense or use more of what you have more often? Pay attention to previous items and stay focused on the present.