Ronni
Well-known Member
- Location
- Nashville TN
A very dear friend of mine, who's as Southern as they come, is fond of saying "Hell's Bells, they don't have a lick o' common sense!" But what IS common sense, and do many folks have it?
The dictionary defines common sense as : "Sound and prudent judgment based on perception of events. Good sense and sound judgment in practical matters. Sound judgment not based on specialized knowledge."
Common sense doesn't seem to depend much on intelligence, education, or as the definitions says, specialized knowledge. I know people (my ex is a good example,) who are very intelligent, highly educated, but as my friend says, don't have a LICK of common sense!! Common sense is about practical intelligence. It's about one's ability to see past rules, structures or procedures/processes, and just be practical about any given situation. It might even be about knowing when to break small rules for the purpose of adhering to bigger or more important rules or desired outcomes.
I run into this issue of common sense not infrequently in my work. One very small but illustrative example: My client wanted me to organize her kitchen for better functionality. My very first suggestion was to move her dishes, glasses and flatware across the kitchen so they were next to the dishwasher. She demurred, saying that her designer had specifically designed the kitchen cabinets across on the other side of the kitchen to house the dishes. (pretty dishes and crystal, glass fronted cabinets.) OK. They may display well over there, but it's FAR more efficient to have them stored as close to the dishwasher as possible, so that you don't have to walk around the kitchen island to the cabinets across the kitchen countless times every time you unload the dishwasher.
So, you want physically attractive, or efficient functionality? (She finally agreed, putting other attractive but less used pieces in the glass fronted cabinets, and her oft used stuff right in the cabinets above the dishwasher. She was very effusive in her thanks, once she'd worked with that arrangement for a week!!)
I have a saying, it's my siggy here...."If it's stupid, but it works, it ain't stupid!" I think that's an excellent comment on common sense.
The dictionary defines common sense as : "Sound and prudent judgment based on perception of events. Good sense and sound judgment in practical matters. Sound judgment not based on specialized knowledge."
Common sense doesn't seem to depend much on intelligence, education, or as the definitions says, specialized knowledge. I know people (my ex is a good example,) who are very intelligent, highly educated, but as my friend says, don't have a LICK of common sense!! Common sense is about practical intelligence. It's about one's ability to see past rules, structures or procedures/processes, and just be practical about any given situation. It might even be about knowing when to break small rules for the purpose of adhering to bigger or more important rules or desired outcomes.
I run into this issue of common sense not infrequently in my work. One very small but illustrative example: My client wanted me to organize her kitchen for better functionality. My very first suggestion was to move her dishes, glasses and flatware across the kitchen so they were next to the dishwasher. She demurred, saying that her designer had specifically designed the kitchen cabinets across on the other side of the kitchen to house the dishes. (pretty dishes and crystal, glass fronted cabinets.) OK. They may display well over there, but it's FAR more efficient to have them stored as close to the dishwasher as possible, so that you don't have to walk around the kitchen island to the cabinets across the kitchen countless times every time you unload the dishwasher.
So, you want physically attractive, or efficient functionality? (She finally agreed, putting other attractive but less used pieces in the glass fronted cabinets, and her oft used stuff right in the cabinets above the dishwasher. She was very effusive in her thanks, once she'd worked with that arrangement for a week!!) I have a saying, it's my siggy here...."If it's stupid, but it works, it ain't stupid!" I think that's an excellent comment on common sense.
