Dr. Jim Taylor in his blog talks about one of my pet peeves: Common Sense. He tells us:

Common sense, defined as “sound judgment derived from experience rather than study,” is one of the most revered qualities in America. It evokes images of early and simpler times in which industrious men and women built our country into what it is today. People with common sense are seen as reasonable, down to earth, reliable, and practical.

But here’s the catch. Common sense is neither common nor sense. There’s not a whole of sound judgment going on these days (though whether it is worse than in the past, I can’t be sure), so it’s not common. If common sense was common, then most people wouldn’t make the kinds of decisions they do every day. People wouldn’t buy stuff they can’t afford. They wouldn’t smoke cigarettes or eat junk food. They wouldn’t gamble. And if you want to get really specific and timely, politicians wouldn’t be tweeting pictures of their private parts to strangers. In other words, people wouldn’t do the multitude of things that are clearly not good for them.

And common sense isn’t real sense, if we define sense as being sound judgment, because relying on experience alone doesn’t usually offer enough information to draw reliable conclusions. Heck, I think common sense is a contradiction in terms. Real sense can rarely be derived from experience alone because most people’s experiences are limited. http://drjimtaylor.com/blog/2011/07/...mon-nor-sense/

From my perspective, common sense is a fallacy if for no other reason than what might pass in some parts as common sense does not in others. More particularly, spouses often cannot agree on what sense is common.

Dr. Taylor posits, "I think we need to jettison this notion of the sanctity of common sense and instead embrace ‘reasoned sense,’ that is, sound judgment based on rigorous study of an issue (which also includes direct experience)."

Frankly, I am more tickled by being told I have a firm grasp of the obvious than I am about being told I am a person of common sense.

What say you?