Dad was madder than this...

Nov. 4th is Use Your Common Sense Day. How many times, growing up, did an adult say to you angrily “Use some common sense?” Oh, it was the worse, because it left you feeling like you were mentally deficient, that some part of your logical faculty had been left off when you were formed in the womb. It was a popular one for my Father when he was angry at some stupid stunt I had pulled and got into trouble over. Of all the things he said to me, in addition to the belt-smacks on my bottom, that statement stung the most. I was left wondering for long disquieting hours whether or not I was ever going to grow up and be as smart as my Dad, whether or not I would ever be good enough…

Origin of the concept of Common Sense

Common sense as a phrase was first coined by Aristotle, although he had something very different in mind from

Aristotle

what we think of today. Aristotle viewed common sense as a physical reaction, a visceral response to the signals provided by a special, inner body organ, akin to our eyes or ears, tongue, nose or skin. This mysterious, hidden organ pulled together and filtered the information from the other organs and helped us to make sound, practical judgments. Sound a bit like a brain, huh? I believe Aristotle held this theory because of the bodily impulse we feel when driven to do what is right, or what our conscious tells us is best. Like puppets, we are physically manipulated by the forces of common good. And like a puppet, if the impulse is strong enough, it is impossible to deny our master’s wishes.

Common Sense today

Today we know common sense as sound, practical judgment, derived from experience rather than study. We didn’t learn to use it from long periods of time in classrooms, or as a result of pondering great works of literature; rather it is native good judgement, learned in the locality in which we live, allowing us to make what appear to be sound decisions in our environment.

We tend to shun those that oppose our beliefs.

As a concept, common sense refers to attitudes and widely held beliefs that ultimately may be difficult to justify. Despite this fact, they are generally assumed by those holding them to be time-tested and reliable, generations after first developed. Break from these long-held beliefs and you will likely find yourself isolated from the larger group and labelled as mentally disturbed, mentally handicapped or socially inept. Why don’t you just get it? It’s common sense! It’s not the fault of the one questioning; often, we deny them their fair hearing as a protective measure, keeping ourselves from having to share in the new challenge to our commonly-held beliefs.

The Genius of the Opposer

On the flip side of the coin, it is also the mark of true genius to shirk what is conventionally held as common knowledge, in the pursuit of a once-hidden truth which ultimately we come to embrace. We once held as common sense that our big, beautiful Earth was flat, actually imprisoned those that said otherwise, and treated opposers publicly as insane or in league with the Devil. The very word Satan comes from the Hebrew

He smilingly opposed those of his time...

word Ha’Satan, meaning “the Opposer.” How much easier it must’ve been to simply point fingers at those that questioned our common-sense authority and call them such, than to take the long hours of time determining if what they were saying was valid, and/or admitting a personal mistake.

Through the centuries, we’ve also held as common sense that only men and women could (and should) be attracted sexually to each other, that men and women of different races could not marry, that the darker the skin the lighter the intelligence, that our circumstances are born to us and cannot be changed, and a host of others that still linger. Just this week a judge stepped down after publicly refusing to marry an interracial couple, because he held the opinion that those relationships were fraught with disaster. Remember, his opinion would’ve been applauded as common-sensical by a majority of our population 60 years ago, and is now derided by an even-great percentage. Oh, how social tables turn…

The Value of Common Sense

So if common sense is so capricious in nature, why is it held in such esteem? John Berger viewed common sense as a home-grown ideology developed by the great masses in response to having to figure things out without the benefit of a proper education in critical thought. After all, most of us can’t afford an experienced, personalized teacher to walk us through life, spending day after day with us examining the values that guide us, exposing every closely-held truth to the light and helping us move past the misconceptions. We have to get on with the practice of living today and now, working with others, trying to get along…

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” ~ Einstein

Our cobbled-together, sea-worthy lives

Common sense works because it allows us to travel the rough waters of our lives on a lashed-together raft of semi-false wisdom. But at least we are moving, right? Berger viewed common sense as a mish-mash of religious hold-overs, information we individually discovered through experience, skepticism of “new” ideas as a form of protection of what we already hold as truth, and items held merely for comfort’s sake. The very thought of trying to approach this mountain of tangled briars and slowly, methodically removing each branch, pricking ourselves emotionally along the way and crying through the pain is frightening, to say the least. But as a society we go through this pain together and cyclically, in nation after nation, as one gifted, charismatic philosopher after another pushes us forward together. Ghandi was one such figure, Confucius, Buddha, Martin Luther King, Jr. and a host of others. There are men and women in our future, still-unborn, who will someday pull us closer to the shore and one day help us find more honest paths to stroll through in life.

Emerging from Common Sense

So why is it important to face up to our commonly held values, to cast them aside if they work so well? Berger re-emerges in this conversation, and tells us that despite its efficacy in holding us all together “happily” in belief (unless you are on the short end of the commonly-held belief,) common sense never grows from its own nourishment, never moves itself (and hence us) beyond its current state, without the insertion of philosophy.

It's scary to go into unknown places...

Descartes viewed common sense as the faculty man uses to survive on life’s journey, until he finds himself in the mysterious realms dominated by the lords of philosophy, a domain in which all of the tools amassed in his life are roughly taken from him and cast into the rough seas of fact. Some of us have a more difficult time with the loss. You’ve seen them, sitting in the back row of your college Critical Thinking class, angry as the professor verbally pickaxes the sturdy foundation the student resided on up to that moment. And just like that student, I have walked upon a firm foundation built on religious values, good intentions, stereotypes, personal experience and plain bigotry. I have had the floor destroyed from under me on more than one occasion. It’s a painful time, as I find myself once again in that place, the role of my Father played by life itself, and I once again that little child being painfully schooled. And once again, I smart for a time, until I accept that I was wrong, that I have much, much more to learn, and forgive the harshness of the lesson in favor of the content.

Social Media and the new Global Sense

“Common sense is not so common.” ~ Voltaire

With the advent of Social Media and Internet-connectivity, we find ourselves going through changes that do not reverberate in one isolated community, in one nation or religious group. Our lashed-together rafts are no longer travelling down local streams, but are instead fighting against ocean currents. Those locally-held belief systems are collapsing under the critical eyes of the larger community, whose lives were not shaped by the same values. Login, and find yourself challenged in all directions.

The Internet is rapidly becoming that personalized teacher, ever-present and ready to walk with us. Hold racist ideals because your parents do? Be ready to have to explain yourself to a variety of individuals of every race, to those who never held such beliefs and are disgusted by those that do. Misogynist? Be prepared for an onslaught of women who have more than the mental capacity to decimate your “common sense” values with 140 keystrokes. Common misconceptions, stereotypes, and small-mindedness have never known a time where there were fewer places to hide from the light. What is true where you live is no longer true when dealing with the globalized community of Twitter or Facebook.

It’s time to step into the light, to share with others, to listen intently to the words of others, and learn from each other. It’s time to do more than tolerate; rather, let us learn to embrace, and one more – let us learn to Change. Social Media is redefining common sense, pulling it from the tight grasps of the small village, the isolated desert town, the gated community lives we lead, and unfolding before us a new Global Sense of what we believe. This shared stream of thought is being nourished daily by each and every one of us who are connected into the larger community, spreading runners underground and popping up in places impossible to ignore, knocking old, valued crockery off of shelves and upsetting those asleep.

It is unfortunate that my Father passed away before the emergence of Twitter. If I could’ve persuaded him to discover it, I think he might’ve gotten a taste of his own medicine. And I would’ve been there beside him, helping steer the raft…

So What is Globalism, Exactly?

There are blessings to be found everywhere.

World Politics: Trend and Transformation defines Globalism as “…the integration of states, through increasing contact, communication, and trade, to create a common global culture for all humanity.”

Does the whole concept of Globalism bother you?  Be honest; it makes a lot of people nervous. Will we lose a lot of money and rights in the process of pulling other nations into a financially secure future?  Will a global economic environment work, or come crumbling down with all of us being harmed?

Globalism is the worldwide application of the Golden Rule, and however you feel about it, it seems to work in our day-to-day lives, so why not between governing bodies?  As Globalism is increasingly embraced by our neighbor countries, their economists have seen an overall increase in revenues in many economic systems, when international cooperation exists.  Current recession aside, of course…

Dwindling resources, concerns over industry-related pollution, war-torn refugees, spread of viruses, and a desire to reach other consumers are a few of the reasons our leaders have had to embrace a global mindset, to cooperate more and more with other nations.  The wealthier, healthier and happier our neighbors are, the better our lifestyles ultimately become.

Our borders are as wide as we allow them to be...

The annual award provided by the United Nations to “World Citizens,” states the following:

WHEREAS, humanity has come to recognise devotion and allegiance to immediate family, to clan, to city, to state, and to nation, and now must experience the concept of Globalism; and

WHEREAS, words of praise and positive thoughts generate dynamic harmony, and

WHEREAS, decisions made from a grateful heart are endowed with intrinsic wisdom and engender prosperity; and

WHEREAS, gratitude, the opposite of “taking for granted,” is a positive emotion which generates good will, is a basic emotion which is indigenous to all people, is a peace-engendering feeling;

AND WHEREAS, September 21 is a special day. It is an equinox: one of the two times of the year when the sun passes over the equator and night and day are everywhere of equal length and everyone is equal under the sun;

THEREFORE let us proclaim World Gratitude Day, a holiday for all peoples, a day of meditation for all religions, a day of celebration for all humanity, united by knowledge of simultaneously shared emotion, a day when triumph of the spirit can make a world community.

Social Media and the Global Community

Social media, to be sure, has already embraced a global philosophy:

• FaceBook has over 500 Million users worldwide, with over 70% outside the Continental United States.  Do you know what the second most popular language used in the U.S. on Facebook, after English, is?  Spanish.  The top 10 nations using Facebook are the U.S., United Kingdom, Indonesia, Turkey, France, Italy, the Philippines, Canada, Mexico and India. Half of these nations were NOT in the top 10 last year on this day.  People are connecting with strangers from all over, sharing photos and video of their daily lives and celebrations.  And learning about new cultures on a daily basis.
• Twitter has over 105 Million users, with America only making up only 40% of total Twitter traffic. We tweet at basically the same rate as Japan. Other large level users of Twitter are seen in Brazil, Germany, Taiwan, Spain, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. Language difference aside, you will find a great deal of English speakers tweeting away in other nations…

Developing Your International Community

Social Media allows us to reach out globally

Want to gain a Global perspective? Reach out to citizens of other nations with your social media accounts!  I love Twitter, so I will provide the example of Twellow, or The Twitter Yellow Pages, a voluntary directory of Twitter users, based on their stated profile information. You can search Twitter profiles by keyword; so if you are looking for individuals living in Rome, Italy, simply type that in and hit the search button.  I highly recommend finding individuals from across the Globe, and enjoying the conversations you have with them. Don’t forget to express your gratitude to them for having found them, even if you have to use a translating program!

Our Brother’s (and Sister’s) Keepers

Social Media has gone a long way towards showing us that we are all alike in so many ways.  That we share the same goals, have the same loves (and hates.)  It has reminded us to care about our neighbors time and again, disaster after natural disaster.

Would our nation collectively consider giving up some of its wealth and rights if it meant that peoples in other nations led lives closer to ours, in a more sustainable manner?  If it meant that all of our children had equal opportunity for their futures?  We are all the keepers of each other, responsible for each other.   I know those that benefit from having the playing field leveled for them would be filled with gratitude for the increased chances for success…

Just 3 Weeks…

Want to work a little gratitude into your life?  Tiny Print, Inc. has sponsored The Gratitude Challenge a 3-week challenge to take a few moments each day and look at “the brighter side of life.” They are featuring blogs whose writers have dedicated themselves to meeting this challenge. Take a look and give it a try!