Common sense never works guys. Don't use it.

[TopazRaven]

I've have heard way too many Christians going around saying this lately. Please....someone, restore my hope in humanity.

[FllMtl Novelist]

Eh? Common sense is great. Though I guess its definition or application varies to some degree, depending who you ask.

But seriously, who says this, and in what context?

[TopazRaven]

On Facebook I saw people saying we should never use common sense and always just let God guide us. He obviously has nothing better to do then hold our hands and tell us what to do all day.

[Masquerade1412]

Unfortunately, I don't have any common sense. People have to explain almost every other word to me! XD

[Cognitive Gear]

Well...

It's sort of correct. Common sense is a set of beliefs or ideas that we take for granted, never questioning them because it's "common sense". For instance, if everyone just went with common sense, we'd still believe that the earth was flat. We'd still believe that the sun revolves around the earth.

There are more examples, I am sure. The lesson is that we should be careful when relying on Common Sense, as it may not be as sensical as we think.


I can't say that I agree with what these facebook folk are saying, though.

[Tsukuyomi]

Hmmm, could it be possible that Common Sense is instilled within all of us?

If a stove is hot, we're not just going to slap our bare hand on top of it are we? Or, am I taking "common sense" too literally xD;

[mechana2015]

My understanding of common sense is stuff like 'look both ways before crossing the street' and 'lift with your knees'. Methinks their definition doesn't match mine, and the use of the word never in it makes me doubly cautious. I understand relying on god, but seriously... common sense tends to be just avoiding common hazards (don't put your hand on a hot stove, cut away from you) or staying healthy (don't eat yellow snow, visibly spoiled food should not be consumed), but this just sounds like overzealous catchphrasing with very little thought of the actual implications of what it says, or how it reflects on Christianity as a result.

[FllMtl Novelist]

Yeah, I was thinking of common sense being more along the lines of "Look both ways before crossing the street", or "Keep track of the money you spend". Or "Don't microwave metal". You shouldn't spend money you don't have left and right, without any restraint or reason, and expect God to magically fill your bank account up again.

On Facebook I saw people saying we should never use common sense and always just let God guide us. He obviously has nothing better to do then hold our hands and tell us what to do all day.

Also, that kind of screws up people who don't actually get regular, obvious communications from God. :l

[Yuki-Anne]

Never use the brain God gave you. Thinking means you don't have enough faith.

[Neane]

Never use the brain God gave you. Thinking means you don't have enough faith.

Especially when you are doing Math.

[Okami]

Never use the brain God gave you. Thinking means you don't have enough faith.

+Love. <3

[Midknight74012]

Allow me to put in my 2 cents

[Kaligraphic]

People have known the world was round since antiquity. Christopher Columbus didn't come up with some new idea, he got the math wrong and thought the world was about 2/3 as big as it really is.

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei

[Xeno]

I went to dinner a week or two back with a good friend of mine who does sermon translation from English to Spanish at my former church. He is of like mindset to myself, but is still there for other reasons irrelevant to this thread. During one of sermons he was translating the person preaching said that we aren't supposed to think for ourselves, because when we think for ourselves it allows Satan to deceive us.

I find the utter lack of common sense among people seems to be the cause of a lot of problems. Problems that I have to subsequently dispatch police officers to deal with in many cases, and hope they don't get killed while handling them. I like common sense.

[Nate]

Never use the brain God gave you. Thinking means you don't have enough faith.

Logic is the enemy of faith.

[Rusty Claymore]

Logic is the enemy of faith.

Wait, is life Final Fantasy Tactics now?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Logic is the enemy of faith.

The only way to have faith even if shown that your faith doesn't make sense is to allow yourself to have faith even though you know it doesn't make sense.

That being said, "common sense" doesn't really exist because it's entirely socially constructed. That and Thomas Reid is teh sux.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I've never heard a Christian say that, but I've considered it a blessing from God- working in retail proves that many people have not been blessed that way.with common sense.

[Warrior4Christ]

Read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Just-Do-Something-Decision-Without/dp/0802458386

[blkmage]

[TopazRaven]

Read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Just-Do-Something-Decision-Without/dp/0802458386

I want it. Must make money now. xD

Meanwhile, thanks for all the answers guys. Most of them have been quite amusing. Others a little more thought provoking. The people who were suggesting not to use common sense to me, were sort of spelling out like it's alright to do potentially stupid things because God will always guide you or something like that. They were comments on an article about thanking God when terrible things happen to you instead of asking why or something. I didn't read the whole thing. I'm not even sure why common sense came up as topic.

[Hiryu]

Some people take this verse too far: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"

[Mouse2010]

Logic is the enemy of faith.

Read someChesterton, and you'll feel less bitter about it.

[spoiler]But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren't a priest."

"What?" asked the thief, almost gaping.

"You attacked reason," said Father Brown. "It's bad theology." [/spoiler]

[Dante]

I smell the opportunity to grant a few new faces their own personal Darwin Award :3

[Cognitive Gear]

People have known the world was round since antiquity. Christopher Columbus didn't come up with some new idea, he got the math wrong and thought the world was about 2/3 as big as it really is.

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei

Just a note, since I brought up the flat earth: I'm well aware that records of humans knowing that the earth is round date back at least as far back as ancient Greece, and I don't think I said anything about Columbus. However, in ancient history this was the exception, not the rule, if your experiences were largely land based.

That being said, "common sense" doesn't really exist because it's entirely socially constructed.

This. Even things that people are listing here, like looking both ways before crossing the street, and not touching a hot stove, are behaviors we learn. Parents have to tell kids, repeatedly, and even have to punish them for not doing these things.

Unless you guys are just talking about having good judgement in common situations, in which case I suppose it's fine to rely on your good judgement.

[mechana2015]

Unless you guys are just talking about having good judgement in common situations, in which case I suppose it's fine to rely on your good judgement.

That's pretty much my definition of common sense. I used more societally specific examples (though variations of the stove and food rules thing are pretty much universal) but in my mind common sense is just that... good judgement in the face of a potentially harmful scenario. I don't see where this precludes faith or benefits people to ignore it.

[Nate]

Some people take this verse too far: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"

Actually I think what they're taking too far is 1 Corinthians which says things like "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" and "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." These are the verses that seem to get trotted out to go "Science is dumb and you should believe something even if it makes no sense because human wisdom is stupid!"

Which is of course taking those verses out of context. What Paul is saying is that Christ's sacrifice sounded ridiculous to people because of the concept of someone dying and coming back to life...and for the Jews, it was a stumbling block because their whole faith was built around the Law and them being God's only chosen people. He was also making a reference to how the poor and needy were considered great to God, which was nonsense to the caste system that existed in those days where the poor meant nothing and only the rich mattered.

Paul wasn't saying "lol if somone tells u earf revolves arnd sun they r dum cuz humn wisdom iz ghey"

[ShiroiHikari]

What was that verse about "do not tempt the Lord your God"?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Read someChesterton, and you'll feel less bitter about it.

[spoiler]But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren't a priest."

"What?" asked the thief, almost gaping.

"You attacked reason," said Father Brown. "It's bad theology." [/spoiler]

I counter your Chesterton with my Kierkegaard. Hyaaa~~!

That being said, if anyone wants to read a good (and somewhat dense) essay written by one of my philosophy professors on the importance of reason with faith (e.g. opposition to fideism, and I am a fideist, meaning I don't agree with his essay but nonetheless I still appreciate it), then here you go:

Contra-Fideism: http://www.mediafire.com/?2110aitifw8cu88

[ABlipinTime]

Thumbs up for Fr. Brown.
----

I thought common sense meant advice not doing something that would get you hurt, make you lose something, or do something that wouldn't benefit you. i.e. Common sense means believing things that would benefit you with respect to self- (and property) preservation. That seems to be the generic idea to it, at least in my opinion.

For example, using the above definition, common sense says don't throw your dog off a cliff if you want to keep it alive. Why? In this situation, it's a preservation of property: The dog, according to the law of gravity, will increase in velocity as it approaches the earth. After the dog has a similar experience as Coyote, you find yourself without a dog. If you wanted the dog, you can't have it anymore because it is now mush. This would make you sad - obviously not beneficial, particularly with respect to your innate desire for pleasure. Hence, common sense says don't throw your dog off a cliff if you want to keep it alive.