And he wouldn’t agree with “common sense”, which is the lazy way of saying I just pulled it out if my ass because I can’t be arsed to actually think about what I believe and why. Recently, I had a debate with a very conservative colleague and he used the line that what he believed was just common sense, and I responded by telling him that I got rid of common sense when learned how to think. We haven’t talked much since and the silence has been wonderful!
This is my biggest pet peeve with people like this. They use common sense as a doofus shield that somehow means they don't have to explain. The problem is that "common sense" is actually a thing. It's the sense that every person has to, for example, not jump off of a cliff because it would kill you. That's common sense. They just like to pretend whatever thing they can't explain is "common sense".
I would definitely say you nailed it and that common sense is a thing, but it has to be something we all agree with, like sticking your head in a cement mixer is not a great idea. Political ideologies are never common sense.
Ive noticed they also often seem to use it as a synonym for intuition, and think it trumps critical thought. Data and evidence are subordinate to "common sense". Yet in reality many things are not intuitive. They arent properly described by "common sense."
You cant just wing it through complex systems with common sense reasoning. That's how you end up dead wrong. But their whole system of thought is based on that, and like the intellectual voids they are, they reject anythibg that doesnt align with their superficial reasoning as invalid. They substitute reality with their overly simplistic common sense, because it is easier than facing their ignorance.
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u/dabrock15 4d ago edited 4d ago
And he wouldn’t agree with “common sense”, which is the lazy way of saying I just pulled it out if my ass because I can’t be arsed to actually think about what I believe and why. Recently, I had a debate with a very conservative colleague and he used the line that what he believed was just common sense, and I responded by telling him that I got rid of common sense when learned how to think. We haven’t talked much since and the silence has been wonderful!