Quote:
Originally Posted by Mystique
*is lost as to the point of this thread or how people are perceiving 'common sense'*
At least... I was raised (and berated often by my father) to 'use common sense', in other words to damn well ' think', when I usually did something he considered stupid or it was in it's very on right, stupid, lol.
Think ahead, always think ahead, be aware of your actions and your surroundings, it's common sense to know if you walk down a dark alley in London as a single young female, you're putting yourself in danger.
It's common sense to know that if you stick your hand near fire, it'll get hot or you risk getting burned.
And so on...
Well.. since the entire concept of common sense is different for me, I guess I better let the thread go, since I'm not sure what Saintess and others are rallying about. 
There's 'general belief' (ie the Earth was round) and at least to me, "common sense" is to make yourself think before you act and not lead into a lame ass stupid situation that could have been avoided especially for scenarios which have been proven to be potentially or fatally dangerous.
(Ie: It's common sense to look before you cross the road or put your seatbelt on before you drive)
Wonder if anyone sees CS in this way too or was brought up that way, probably a non Western cultural thing at seeing the concept of it as completely different, since to me it equates to:
"Using common knowledge or facts, think before you act to avoid unnecessary danger or stupidity"
Well, makes for an interesting cultural comparison if that is the case  |
In America, "common sense" is what you meant by "general belief" - a pool of commonly accepted beliefs that people believe in just because other people also believe in them (e.g. doctors believe that the only thing you can do if you get cancer is to slow its inevitable destruction of your body), instead of using your common sense and thinking for yourself (e.g. reading up on the latest research and finding out that not only is cancer fully curable, it's also fully preventable).
All of the doctors I've asked about cancer claimed that once you get cancer, it's unstoppable and it just gets worse and worse. *
(I don't actually have cancer - I asked them to test what level they're are at) Which just isn't true anymore. But if that's what they believe in, that's how it'll be for them.
That's "general belief," or what in the West we call it "common sense." It's so believed to be true that the people who believe in it can't even conceive of an alternative, so they're stuck in their little world of "This is how things are. There are no other possibilities." Now England's probably less religiously fanatical than America so I'd imagine you weren't exposed to as much "general belief" as Americans were when you were growing up, and instead you were taught to think for yourself.
I was brought up on the whole
be aware of your actions and
think before you act brand of common sense as well. I didn't call it that though - all it means is you use your brain.
