When we think of what RESOURCE is in short supply, is scarce, precious, and extremely valuable, we think of: diamonds, gold, silver, money, precious metals. BUT we seldom think of COMMON SENSE.
Just look around. Pay attention for even a fleeting second, or so, you will see a world that has almost completely lost the art of applying common sense. Everything from ROAD RAGE, to health, to wealth, to parenting, to fake news, to fake climate change statistics, to going over the top to be politically correct, including making it law to have to avoid using certain pronouns if the recipient might be offended, to turning a blind eye to wars if those wars kill millions of people but enrich our 401-Ks, (RSPs/TFSAsfor Canadians), and much more. We’ve lost it!
Just about every facet of living is nearly devoid common sense.
Thinking about this Nugget, I just had a strong itch to make a short list of examples devoid common sense:
- Borrowing.
- Credit cards.
- Weight gain.
- Choice of foods, harmful snacks, alcohol, sweets, etc.
- Lack of exercise/Over-exercising.
- Raising kids.
- Unfounded arguments with spouses/significant others.
- Inattentive driving, even texting while stopped at traffic lights, Not to mention the idiocy associated to road rage.
- SOME Vaccinations & their biased studies.
- Government mandated health programs that force doctors to adhere to political policy rather than leveraging excellence in medical care.
- Politics and their politicians.
- Mainstream Media running fictitious surveys or reporting news lacking in credibility, or even inventing stories.
- Geo-engineering using nano-particles damaging to animal, vegetable and human health.
- Over-use of pesticides/herbicides.
- Degradation of TV with detailed and excessive violence to condition the populace.
- Leaders who condone unethical behaviour in self or in others.
- Researchers, scientists, intelligence agencies, military, journalists, doctors, nurses, teachers, CEOs, etc., who fail to question their impact as role models on kids.
- The food pyramid created to protect and grow the employment of farmers/ranchers, but not to protect the long-term health of people who blindly follow it.
- Genetically engineered Salmon, other fish, and animals; GMO crops without extremely-long-term studies, (generations), of the impact to human DNA/genetics.
- Extensive use of environmentally-damaging make-up, underarm deodorant that uses aluminum, non-degradable microscopic beads used in toothpaste and makeup. Let’s also think of Pharmaceuticals which, when passed through patients into the municipal water systems, presents long-term risk to human health.
- Adding a potentially TOXIC INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL, (Fluoride), to municipal drinking water when almost everyone in a municipality uses FLUORIDE IN TOOTHPASTE. Be sure to read the WARNING on tubes of toothpaste, especially for children: “Do NOT SWALLOW!” So, lacking common sense, we all spit our toothpaste into the sink and wash it down into the municipal drinking water system–for others to swallow! [Yuck!!]
That list is a tiny fraction of the many examples to which common sense can be, or fails to be, applied.
HOW TO DEVELOP [MORE] COMMON SENSE:
- I like the adage, “Trust, but verify“. (See End Note 1)
- Know that EVERYONE and every source of information has an agenda. Some are overt; most, covert. In other Nuggets on this website I mention “Hidden Agenda“, a term you can type into our search box.
- Here’s another adage that will be helpful: “Follow the money“. Want to know which puppetmaster controls your favorite politicians, celebrity, or any other prominent person you admire or support? Discover the sources of their money. Find the money stream and you most often find answers. Even if you find no answer, you’ll likely discover potential land mines to avoid. The most recent examples of “follow the money” in politics is the heavy flow of dollars from Russia to some past Federal politicians. That flow is well documented for anyone choosing to look beyond what is now termed as “lame-stream” media, (meaning your favorite national news channels).
- Straight line thinking breeds fake “heresies” while proponents “drop the mic”. Be suspicious of anyone, or any institution, that has a vested financial or political interest in protecting the status quo. Take Obamacare as just one example. If a doctor pursued treatments in the best interest of the patient, but which were not allowed under Obamacare, that doctor was subject to an exorbitant financial penalty. A second offense could result in jail time. [Drop the mic.] Climate scientists face fines and jail time if they do research that proves the deficiencies to the “climate change” argument espoused by politicians and the pseudo-scientists who provided the research to those politicians. Few scientists in their right mind will risk the penalties associated to challenging the veracity of the climate change arguments. [Drop he mic.] Likewise, speaking out about the dangers of vaccinations can land scientists and doctors in hot water. Some jurisdictions made the entire gambit of vaccinations mandatory by enshrining it in laws. [Drop the mic.]
- Do your own research, not merely typing into the search engines and being satisfied with anything that pops up. Verify that the source of the data is a legitimate, uncompromised source worthy of offering an expert viewpoint. So, take the time and learn the background of experts. Validate the experts. These days, it is easy for anyone to appear to be an expert. Take the time to check their credentials. Especially apply the other tips offered in this Nugget.
- Are BOTH SIDES equally and fairly presented? When you hear a sales pitch, or visit a website selling anything, or listen to politicians or anyone else, detect if both sides of the argument/debate/question are being equally represented. Often one-sided arguments have great intellectual and emotional appeal to those who know too little of the subject matter.
- Be sure to check the checkers. Are the fact checkers independent? Do they have any “friends to protect”? Are they compromised by their sources of income? Mainstream media recently came under criticism for a number of articles that appeared to be poorly fact checked, though they had highly trained fact checkers.
- Do not trust your news sources. Mainstream media did a great disservice to themselves, but also to every journalist and every consumer of the news, when it was caught on numerous occasions fabricating stories or failing to present the facts correctly. Verify news reports.
- Run from ANECDOTES. He said, she said, ’em said. THAT is opinion, not fact. “Hundreds of people are happy using product XYZ.” That’s still an opinion and that doesn’t make for sound science. Just a bunch of people who think alike. You need hard facts.
- Celebrities ought to stick to acting and entertaining. If a celebrity is endorsing a product or offering an opinion or stirring up discontent…be especially wary of them. They have sold their souls already and are generally used as tools by those who promote various pieces of propaganda. Actors speaking to a cause = propaganda until proven otherwise. Don’t get brainwashed by the dazzle of a celebrity.
- Anyone can have an opinion. So can any group of people. Opinions are not facts. Coming from an expert or not, opinions ought to be questioned thoroughly. If you don’t know enough to be able to verify or validate the opinions of experts find someone who can. Learn to tell the difference between facts and opinions. One is informative, the other is all about someone else’s personality and the way they think.
- Group consensus is not necessarily fact. Just because some body or some group of people intimidate the hell out of you, doesn’t mean they are correct. Politicians do this all the time. They even encase bad thinking into law that you can go to jail for if you violate those ever-encroaching laws.
- You seldom can do it all. If you try to accomplish everything, you will merely frustrate yourself. Learn to prioritize. Type “Pareto” in my search box.
- Separate your prejudice and bigotry from useful information. You may be overlooking or biasing your own thinking because of the weight of your past experiences or, worse, because of your prejudice and bigotry. SEPARATE EMOTIONS FROM FACTS.
- Be on guard for the HALO EFFECT. Halo Effect, in a nutshell, is the glow carried over from associating to something else. Examples of ways we can be influenced by the halo effect: job titles/vocations, charisma, attractiveness, desperation, habit, guilds, associations/panels, implied authority despite a compromised research study, advertising, group norms, common sayings, propaganda, etc.,
- Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita: “Accept that which you can not change. Change that which you can. Have the wisdom to know the difference.” Enough said.
- Manage your risks. Don’t expose yourself to needless dangers, nor expose family members.
- Be courageous enough to say, “No, thanks.“
- Don’t spend more than you earn.
- Be sure you need it before you actually buy it.
- Tend to small problems early if they can turn into major problems later.
- Learn to coach, but don’t persist at making people change, if they don’t want to change.
- When investing, be sure the UPSIDE is GREATER THAN THE DOWNSIDE.
- Know your limits. How long will you wait for an outcome? How much can you afford to invest? How much time can you spare? How many activities can you handle?
- Do NOT blindly trust anyone, until you are absolutely certain you can.
- Get it in writing, always. Trying to get a sweet deal by negotiating around a contract? Expect half a job or that you will get burned in some way.
END NOTE
- “TRUST, BUT VERIFY”, allegedly was taught to President Ronald Reagan by Suzanne Massie, a Russian writer, in 1984.
