Would Like Some Opinions....

from this astute group...Answer this question please: Can common sense be 'taught' or are you 'born with it' and thus you either have it or you don't?...Look forward to your replies....Rooster

Hi,

I wasn't born with common sense, and no one was able to teach it to me due to my stubbornness.

I believe I aquired it while remaking myself into a person capable of succeeding.

Hope this was helpful,

- Boyd

Well, my 84-year-old mother tells me she tried to beat it into me.. Don't know how well it took though! :)

So, it seems that I wasn't born with it. I too had to aquire it along the way. Funny thing, the older I get, the more I seem to have! (Noticed my mom's a lot smarter now, too!)

Pete

> from this astute group...Answer this
> question please: Can common sense be
> 'taught' or are you 'born with it' and thus
> you either have it or you don't?...Look
> forward to your replies....Rooster




Can you handle the truth??

> from this astute group...Answer this
> question please: Can common sense be
> 'taught' or are you 'born with it' and thus
> you either have it or you don't?...Look
> forward to your replies....Rooster

Well Rooster, I'll have to say you know how to create an interesting thread. I think growing up on a farm certainly helped develop common sense, just because of all the basic "have to figure it out for yourself" problems & projects that are involved when you deal with equipment, livestock, crops, bugs, weather,etc. When dealing with "real" world things like that, it seems I might have a fair amount of CS. Other times I wonder if I have any, like when my son is trying to explain some deep computer thing or when I'm trying to sort thru all the marketing hype on the web to find a good biz op. Bottom line (just my opinion) life experiences can "teach" it if you let them sink in. Some folks learn from their mistakes, some never do. I don't think it's something one person can "teach" another really, but I do try and teach my son to be sensible and he is. Must be the student, 'cause I'm pretty sure it's not the teacher. 'Nuff said. I sure enjoy the wisdom from folks on some of these boards. Thanks Rooster and everyone, Dave

My opinion?

It can't be taught, only learned, and most of us aren't too crash hot at that:-)

Just my 2c worth.

Cheers
Philip

> from this astute group...Answer this
> question please: Can common sense be
> 'taught' or are you 'born with it' and thus
> you either have it or you don't?...Look
> forward to your replies....Rooster

Hi Rooster,

I am number 4 of 8 boys, so I don’t think I was… “born with it”.

And, I can remember visiting the wood shed for a common sense lesson or two, so perhaps it can be…”taught.”

However, I have heard the old saying “He’s full of book learning, but doesn’t have any common sense.”

Good question. (look forward to reading your final results and conclusion).

My best to you,

Raymond

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> from this astute group...Answer this
> question please: Can common sense be
> 'taught' or are you 'born with it' and thus
> you either have it or you don't?...Look
> forward to your replies....Rooster

Common sense is not so common-
Voltaire,Philosophical dictionary

The art of being wise is the art of
knowing what to overlook-
William James, The Principles of Psychology

> from this astute group...Answer this
> question please: Can common sense be
> 'taught' or are you 'born with it' and thus
> you either have it or you don't?...Look
> forward to your replies....Rooster

Hi Rooster,

I'd have to go with those who say that "common sense is learned along the way"....

Like Boyd, in my case, I have a stubborn streak. So sometimes "common sense" often seems to only come after a few bruises!

Thanks for a great question Rooster!

- Dien

>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




Uncommon Tools of the Trade

comes from your personal experience of observing the world around you.

Here is an example. It seems logical to me - yet... A former roommate of mine had NEVER figured this one out until I pointed it out to him.

There is one traffic light on Orangethorpe Ave in Anaheim that Glenn ALWAYS got stuck at. He ran a red once - and got a ticket - because he just couldn't time it right.

And he couldn't figure out how I always knew when to stop and when to proceed through the light.

We were together in his car one day and he started slowing down. I asked him why and he explained the situation described above.

I told him to watch the "Walk/Don't Walk" light and he'd never get another ticket.

Simple, huh. Common Sense??? You tell me.