College education versus commonsense

I watched a show on Amazon this morning called Secrets and Lies. The title should have been: Stupid People Being Stupid and Ruining Multiple Lives.
 

Just a bit tired of hearing the common sense vs. education dillemma! Or however it's spelled. I have had a college education for over 2 decades and have been put down accordingly for it since then!
 
Ruthanne said:
Just a bit tired of hearing the common sense vs. education dillemma! Or however it's spelled. I have had a college education for over 2 decades and have been put down accordingly for it since then!
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That's just not right.
I have high regard for all with degrees
I've got 'some college' no degree
One regret I harbor

It's a great advantage to have common sense coupled with knowledge
Those folks get things done

College can round one out, broaden one's scope.... and in a hurry
 
Why does college educated have to be looked at as though college educated have no common sense as in college education vs. common sense?
 
Gaining a degree is simply an indication of one's ability to retain facts. It does not indicate intelligence. Some of the best-educated people can be downright stupid and need to have everything spelled out for them.
 
Common sense is often provided through one's family background and the society in which one is acculturated which in itself can be environmentally shaped. Australian bushmen might regard us to have little common sense, whereas some might consider them primitives despite their adeptness at survival in a harsh environment. College grooms an individual to function in some kind of specialized role needed or valued by the larger society. At the higher reaches of education, we are taught more and more about less and less. As a college professor once reminded his class, "We are all narrow, we are all limited." Common sense and higher education are both highly valuable and need not be mutually exclusive, but balance and perspective can be hard to maintain...
 
And one persons version of commonsense doesnt always match anothers.
One of the biggest cliches is "oh its just commonsense". Yet what they often mean is "if you dont think like me you must be stupid".
 
Since I have both common sense and a college education this does not apply to me. :)

However it has been my observation over the years that while lack of common sense does occur among educated people, it is even more prevalent among those that are uneducated.
 
Common sense and logic have never failed me, dealing with people that possess neither has.

I do think one has to be somewhat educated to obtain common sense and/or logic.
 
hypochondriac said:
Common sense doesnt come naturally to me. I envy people with it and they seem to do well in life overrall.
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After reading the postings, I'm not sure anyone would agree on what 'common sense' is. I'm very cynical, and critical, of our generation. I have used a phrase many times that most boomers have gone through life paying little to no attention to their health, education, or welfare (meaning finances for the most part). Do you think a boomer that 'suddenly' discovers that they didn't plan for retirement (or even think about it) and is 30 pounds overweight with health issues they brought about through their poor habits has any common sense? Did boomers pay attention to the changes in the field they worked in and made sure to keep up so they would remain viable in the field, or just 'show up' to work. Did most boomers really do anything to advance their health or just thought they could 'take a pill'. How many people really budgeted, saved, and learned how to maximize their savings through investments.
That is pretty much the stereotype I see in our generation. No common sense, no planning, no looking ahead. Someone have a different idea of what 'common sense' really is? I just see a lot of people who failed to 'take charge' of their lives and plan and work for goals related to their employment, health, and finances. I consider that a total lack of common sense.
 
A judge, who is a close friend of mine in the next county east of where I live, once told me that there is no such thing as common sense. If there was “common” sense, everyone would have some. The proper terminology should be “good” sense.

He said that when he has a young person in front of him for sentencing, he will often ask them, “Don’t you have any good sense?”

I remember hearing Dr. Phil say, “ You can have all the education in the world, but lack having common sense.”
 
In almost all circumstances a person has to use both knowledge and Common "Good" Sense. Take for example a surgeon or doctor coming in to see a patient. They are going to come in and ask educated questions that they learned from schooling to get and idea of possibly what is going on. They wouldn't just come in and say OK lets schedule this surgery for tomorrow and go in there and see whats up. That is what using common or good sense is. You have to use both in many situations.
 

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