Common Nonsense

Reality is under no obligation to behave in a way that conforms to our intuition. Therefore, a lot of things we percieve to be "common sense" are in fact nonsensical. It's not common sense to think that a feather and a brick fall to the earth at the same speed under the force of gravity, but it is the reality.

_{Image by geralt - source: Pixabay}

Even Einstein's theories of relativity were resisted because of our over reliance on "common sense":

Einstein's theories of relativity were initially resisted, even by the scientific community, because they defied common sense. They seemed to belong more in the realm of science fiction than reality, until they were later verified by scientific observations. Our modern Global Positioning System (GPS) now uses Einstein's relativity theories. This initial resistance may have led Einstein to later say that "Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down by the mind before you reach eighteen".
_{source: The Logical Place}

The appeal to common sense increases in weight when the suggested explanation supports previously held convictions, as illustrated by Einstein's words, and is often used in debates. But it's a fallacy, the "common sense fallacy" in fact. It relies on a vague notion of "obviousness", something that "speaks for itself", or "what's there for all to see". As you may have noticed, none of these are supported by actual reasoning, let alone evidence. Common sense tells us the earth is flat, as we see ourselves walking on a flat plane, and see the Sun, Moon and stars revolving around us; common sense also tells us we're the center of the universe, a belief we've held for centuries, and unfortunately some still do.

It takes a conscious effort to not fall for the common sense fallacy, to never take explanations or arguments for granted, just because they agree with your previously held convictions. On scales larger than the individual it's also interesting to try to figure out how some convictions have become so wide-spread. How did Islam, Christianity and Judaeism become world religions? There was a time when no one had ever heard about Abraham, Jesus or Muhammad. Many of us now believe that it's easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism, and I'm sure there was a time when people believed that it's easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of their particular religion.

Never trust an argument or explanation that lacks any evidence in reality but instead is made out to be "obvious". It's obvious that the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. But it's not true, it's not reality. In reality the earths spins around its axis, creating the appearance that the hot glowing ball rises above one horizon of a flat planet and sets below the opposite horizon of a flat planet. What's real is not determined by our individual observations and logic alone. What's real need to be reasoned and explanations need to be tested against reality.

The reverse is also true; common sense can't be used to dismiss a proposition out of hand. It isn't enough to determine if something's true and it isn't enough to determine if something's not true. I'll use the creationists again to clarify; they'll invoke what's called the junkyard tornado, the notion of a "tornado sweeping through a junkyard to assemble a Boeing 747", to decry abiogenesis and evolution. It's common sense that a tornado can't assemble an airplane, therefore abiogenesis and evolution must be false.

We are not rational or sensical creatures by nature. Most of the time we don't reason or test our convictions against reality. Instead, everything we think we know, everything that's common sense to us, is learned through education and socialization. What's commomn sense to me might not be common sense to someone else. Therefore we need to test our convictions against reality. In the end, an appeal to common sense is indicative of personal bias. It's hard to let go of convictions that have been built over the course of one's life, but when confronted with facts and evidence it's ridiculous to still hold on to them, for it then becomes common nonsense.

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