It seems, to me, that this chapter of common sense has been
easier to relate to than the previous chapters. Common sense is something that
we have all probably heard and even said at some point in our lives, whether it
be to a family member, friend, or co-worker. As the chapter states, common
sense is derived from what we, as individuals, find familiar. This includes
experiences that we have had, and behaviors/understandings/knowledge that has
been repeatedly practiced. Even though the book states, there is no “universal
common sense,” I still think that some common sense is shared among individuals.
Ironically, I recently had a conversation with a fellow
student that I frequently ride the bus with, and as we were waiting for the
bus, we were exchanging stories of “good and bad” bus riding etiquette, when
all of a sudden he blurts, “I mean, come on! Its common sense!” And I couldn’t
help but laugh and agree, because we shared the same idea of common sense in
that specific case. I did, however, divert our previous bus etiquette
conversation towards the topic and idea of common sense. I asked him what he
thought was considered “common sense” about that and he said, “It’s just
something everybody should know.” I explained to him about my recent reading in
the communication ethics book about how there really is no “universal common
sense,” therefore, leading to the implication that this person whom he was
referring to may have been familiar with a different type of bus etiquette, or
experienced a different background than us.
It is interesting to learn that there is no true universal
common sense, yet we tend to use this term so freely more often in a shared
setting. In most cases, at least in my experience, this term is typically
expressed in a casual manner towards family, friends, or co-workers. I cannot
think of a time when I have, or would, use this term towards someone that I was
not close to or had something in common with enough to express what is or is
not common sense.
Tiffany, I agree with you that this chapter was a lot easier to relate to than the others. I pretty much talked about the same thing in my blog, being that we so freely use the term common sense. However, I do agree with you in the fact that there is some common sense that is shared among a group of people, like we talked about in class, that everyone in class has the same common sense knowledge of Comm 3625. Being that there is some shared common sense, how do we know when something is common sense? That was one question that I was struggling with.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this chapter on Common Sense, I will definitely take into account the term common sense, the next time I just throw it out. Everyone has different ideas of common sense based on their backgrounds and life experiences. So like you said, those other people on the bus probably were exposed to other buses and were not used to the etiquette on the bus that you ride. With so many people in our world, we are bound to run into people of different cultures, language styles, ethics and more.
Kathryn, thank you for your response. Like you mentioned, as there are many people in our world with different cultures, language styles, ethics, etc., it is safe that we are to encounter these people in almost a daily basis in some context or another. That being said, is it fair to say that "common sense" is slowly losing common and shared meaning because it is becoming lesser and lesser shared as our world is becoming more diverse with backgrounds and experiences? I think that in some cases it is definitely losing its meaning, in more of a public context, but do you agree that common sense will forever remain as is still being created amongst groups as we talked about in class? For example, like our class has labeled common sense within its boundaries of the classroom, doors, rules, etc.
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