Common sense is the knowledge acquired by people from customs, experiences and everyday experiences. It is a superficial knowledge based on habit, not the result of much thought.
Common sense, also called empirical knowledge, accumulates throughout life and is passed on from generation to generation.
It is a knowledge that is not based on scientific methods or conclusions, but on belief, on the common and spontaneous way of assimilating information and knowledge that is useful in everyday life.
The function of common sense is to streamline decision-making processes to facilitate daily life. Thus, not all actions should be the subject of reflection, and can be automated by custom.
Examples of common sense
Advice, popular sayings and superstitions are striking examples of common sense. They are taken as true and followed by several people:
- Eating mangoes with milk is bad;
- Leaving your sandals upside down or opening your umbrella indoors is a sign of ill omen;
- Cut your hair on the crescent moon so that it grows faster;
- Use colors related to wishes on New Year's Eve.
Common sense can also be a reflection of prejudices existing in society, as in:
- Women should take care of the house and men should provide for the home;
- One race or ethnicity is more apt/capable than another for certain tasks;
- "In a quarrel between husband and wife, no one takes the spoon";
- Girls wear pink and boys wear blue.
Common sense is a cultural heritage that has the function of guiding people's way of life. The results of this knowledge can be both positive and negative for society.
Through common sense, for example, a child learns what danger and safety are, what he can and cannot eat, what is right and wrong. These norms that will direct your way of acting and thinking, your attitudes and decisions.
On the other hand, common sense can be loaded with prejudices, which can be transmitted from generation to generation.
See too: common sense examples.
Common sense and scientific knowledge
Common sense is an unsystematic knowledge, that is, it does not have a previous organization or investigation of studies to reach a conclusion.
Science, however, is a systematic knowledge, organized from a set of coherent and interrelated theories, studies and observations.
O scientific knowledge is the basis of science, all its prepositions, theories and hypotheses are proven (or not) through a series of experiments and analyses.
Learn more about scientific knowledge.
Common sense and critical sense
Common sense is associated with thoughtless belief and knowledge. Your knowledge may be based on statements such as: "because", "because it's always been like this", "because they told me" or "everyone knows it's like that".
Critical sense, on the other hand, is the opposite, it is based on questioning, reflection, research and critical thinking. Information is always analyzed through logic and seeks a true and universal conclusion.
Learn about the meaning critical sense.
See also:
- Scientific knowledge
- empirical knowledge
- Examples of common sense
