Just because an approach is “common sense†does that make it right?
“Common sense” ranks high on my list of most hated words. It’s up there with “the public”. Like my reaction to disrespect, they trip triggers that turn off my ears and put me on defensive, even if I agree with what’s being said.
It takes deliberate effort for me to stay focused on listening to someone’s concerns rather than building arguments that disprove the common-ness or sensibility of their assumptions. I think I’m getting better, but I know I have to keep working on it.
To say that something is common sense is to dismiss ideas or perspectives that might disagree with your conclusion. It can be used to intimidate, as if to say that if a minority disagrees with the majority, the minority is obviously wrong. It also ignores the possibility that new things can be learned. The assumption is that there is nothing more that could be said, discovered or understood that would change the perceived majority’s view.
Implying that someone whose ideas do not conform with the majority must therefore be wrong, serves to humiliate them into accepting something different. Maybe their idea isn’t correct, but the simple fact that the majority doesn’t see things the same way isn’t what makes them incorrect. What if one person sees something before anyone else? What if they got a new idea that no one had considered before?
I look for quality of ideas, not quantity of believers. So-called common sense has severe limitations. Much of what I’ve been told is common sense over the years, on thinking it through, I find is either not common or not sensible.
My discomfort with “the public” is rooted in the same observations. It is too often used to make broad sweeping judgments about society or our community. Just speaking those words creates an us-versus-them confrontation. Of course, sometimes it’s completely within context to refer to a large population as a single entity, but that seems rare in my experience.
Just as with “common sense”, “the public” is too often used by those attempting to pressure someone into accepting their way of seeing something by intimidating or humiliating them rather than trusting the strengths of the ideas offered.