Is it just us, or does it seem like more and more people are losing their common sense these days? We often see evidence of this when we’re driving or watching stories on the news involving bizarre behavior by people. What got us thinking about this topic is the fact that November 4 is Use Your Common Sense Day. We shouldn’t be limiting our use of common sense to one day!

We wondered how Use Your Common Sense Day got started. It turns out that Bud Bilanich is credited with the idea. Bilanich is a career coach and known as the “common sense guy.” He selected November 4 to be Common Sense Day because it was the birthday of Will Rogers. Rogers was a famous entertainer, newspaper columnist, and humorist popular in the 1920’s and 30’s and known for his wit. One of his sayings was, “Common sense ain’t that common.” Evidently that idea is not new!

What is common sense? The English Dictionary says, “Your common sense is your natural ability to make good judgments and to behave in a practical and sensible way.” Wikipedia says, “Common sense is sound, practical judgment concerning everyday matters, or a basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge in a manner that is shared by (i.e. common to) nearly all people.”

Although Use Your Common Sense Day was first celebrated in 2015, the concept of common sense has been around a long time. Aristotle incorporated it into his writing by highlighting the importance of using rational thinking in making decisions. Thomas Edison recognized the importance of common sense when he said, “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness and Common sense.”

The concept of common sense was also made popular in 1776, during events leading up to the American Revolutionary War. Thomas Paine wrote a 47-page pamphlet called, Common Sense. That document played a critical part in supporting those individuals who were declaring independence from Great Britain.

It’s interesting to note that Paine’s pamphlet was copied over 500,000 times during the years of the American Revolution. Also, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history in proportion to the population at that time. In fact, it remains an all-time best-selling American title and it’s still in print today.

We’ve been taught some basic common sense principles by our parents. Some examples of this would be – look both ways before you cross the street; don’t put your hand on a hot stove. We aren’t born knowing these principles of common sense, we have to be taught them or learn them the hard way. Mark Twain said, “Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions.”

We can all relate to times when we had to ‘learn it the hard way’ by making some bad decisions. It’s interesting that often those lessons learned from making bad decisions seem to stick with us more than when we made good decisions. Possibly it’s because the ‘pain’ incurred from those bad decisions become seared into our brain more than the pleasure derived from good decisions.

So, how do you react when you suffer the effects of a bad decision? First, realize that everyone makes mistakes. We can all have a lapse in exercising common sense. When we are under stress or acting from fear, we can do, and say, things that we don’t mean. Ask for forgiveness and learn from it. Mistakes don’t have to define us. Become better, not bitter, by taking advantage of the learning that comes from that experience.

Having more education doesn’t automatically mean we’ll learn common sense. We’ve all known highly educated people who seem to be lacking in common sense. Unfortunately, that perception is becoming more and more real. Robert Green Ingersoll says, “It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.”

We’ve also learned from recent events that we can’t always rely on the ‘experts’ regarding matters important to us, such as our health. It’s increasingly important to use our common sense and think logically about those things. Dare to do your own research and get other opinions rather than just blindly following a recommendation. Also, don’t believe everything you hear on the news or on social media.

What about you? How’s your common sense? Wilfred Peterson said, “The art of common sense is applying the best wisdom we know today based on all our yesterdays.” The world can be a better place as we all use common sense. Let’s pray for common sense to be more common. See our short video on common sense at https://vimeo.com/641792633

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@TheBalanceCenter.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2023 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.