Common Sense

Over the years I have heard people make arguments and express some variation of the phrase “it’s just common sense,” or “this is common sense legislation/policy.” These types of phrases start with a few basic assumptions. 1. That the people using the phrase embodies the definition of common sense, therefore everyone should agree with them. 2. That there is such a thing as common sense and that it is common.

I don’t buy into either.

Here’s a definition of common sense that I find helpful: “Common sense is sound, practical judgment concerning everyday matters, or a basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge in a manner that is shared by nearly all people.” That’s from wikipedia (not always the most reliable source, but a good summation of other definitions that expressed the same idea).

The key with common sense, I believe is the last part of the definition — “shared by nearly all people.” I think the day so “shared by nearly all people” are becoming rarer — at least in our nation. As a nation, our people seem more intent on finding ways to fight either each other, than to find common ground. We are losing the ability to even agree on basic facts even when large numbers of people watch the same events in real time. When basic core truth can’t be agreed upon, then there is no room for common sense since fewer number of things can be “shared by nearly all people.”

In order to have common sense, there needs to be a metanarrative. A metanarrative “is an overarching story or storyline that gives context…