>Can common sense be 'taught' or are you 'born
>with it' and thus you either have it or you don't?...

I'm not sure what we are 'born with'...
or 'without'...

Some say we inherit capabilities to do or to be...
'He's got his dad's brains' or 'She inherited her
mother's looks'.

It's obvious when someone looks like someone else
on the outside...but 'looking on the inside'
is a little more difficult.

If someone is born to parents who are perfect
genetic specimens (is there such a thing?), will
they not be prone to be a similar product?

So if your parents have 'common sense', will you
have 'common sense'?

You probably will, if your education doesn't get
in your way.

My dad had a lot of common sense. He was a smart
man, too. (He was a systems analyst/programmer
for IBM mainframe computers.) But I don't ever
remember him letting his intellect get in the way
of common sense.

It amazes me sometimes how some men are so helpless
when it comes to anything mechanical or electrical.
Yet these same men can make my head spin talking
about the latest scientific discovery.

They have all those capital letters after their
names, but it does them no good at all when the
battery on their automobile goes dead and they
need a jumpstart...or the toilet gets clogged
because junior dropped his favorite toy down
in the water never to be seen again.

I'm reminded of a saying that I've heard around
spiritual gatherings...Someone is said to be
'so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good'.

Or the saying, 'He's too smart for his own good.'

So can you have 'common sense' and above average
intelligence at the same time?

I believe the answer is, 'Yes', but I think sometimes
intelligence tries to get in the way.

I laugh at myself sometimes...I feel like I have
a reasonable amount of common sense,
and I am generally considered to be 'smart'.
I am an electronic technician/engineer by trade.

What's funny sometimes is how complicated
I end up making things...my analytical,
logical mind kicks in to find a way
to resolve a problem and I'm off on some
tangent (rabbit trail) chasing down a problem
that I created in my mind.

I don't see the forest for the trees. After
several moments (minutes, hours, days...)
of 'solving' the problem and giving up in
frustration, or maybe even finding a solution,
someone else comes along...some one with
unadulterated 'common sense'...and says,
'Did you think about doing it this way?'

So if you are one of the ones 'lucky' enough
to be born with 'common sense', use it carefully.
Guard it with your life.

If you want to try to learn 'common sense',
enroll in the school of hard knocks where the
school colors are black and blue...

Be blessed,

JDB




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