In our recent Wacky Wednesday experience when we got the opportunity to undermine the intelligence and common sense of fellow students, all in the name of fun. This experience was liberating and at the same time had me feeling left with a sense of guilt. Above all it had me questioning which of the two, intelligence and common sense, are more important.
In my endeavours to both use my intelligence and common sense I looked up exactly what their definitions was. Common sense is sound judgment not based on specialised knowledge; native good judgment. Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge; it is the faculty of thought and reason and in some cases superior powers of the mind (Answers.com).
How often do you hear people say that your qualification is just a piece of paper, that experience and common sense is valued more. If you have been for interviews you would have heard it plenty. It is the number one obstacle to overcome when completing your studies. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for education…education is empowerment of one’s mind.
That said, I personally think that common sense is more important. You could be excused for not knowing something because you never learnt it but there is no reason why people should not exercise common sense daily. If given enough thought common sense is just as important as what gets taught and could be implemented in the corporate environment. You don’t need someone to teach you that crisis management should be pro active, if possible, rather that reactive. You don’t need someone to tell you that unethical and unlawful actions will have consequences. If more people exercised common sense the world would not only be a better place but it would be one less thing to stress about.
In my endeavours to both use my intelligence and common sense I looked up exactly what their definitions was. Common sense is sound judgment not based on specialised knowledge; native good judgment. Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge; it is the faculty of thought and reason and in some cases superior powers of the mind (Answers.com).
How often do you hear people say that your qualification is just a piece of paper, that experience and common sense is valued more. If you have been for interviews you would have heard it plenty. It is the number one obstacle to overcome when completing your studies. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for education…education is empowerment of one’s mind.
That said, I personally think that common sense is more important. You could be excused for not knowing something because you never learnt it but there is no reason why people should not exercise common sense daily. If given enough thought common sense is just as important as what gets taught and could be implemented in the corporate environment. You don’t need someone to teach you that crisis management should be pro active, if possible, rather that reactive. You don’t need someone to tell you that unethical and unlawful actions will have consequences. If more people exercised common sense the world would not only be a better place but it would be one less thing to stress about.
I agree. We hear so many stories that end in death due to people not using common sense, on the less extreme side, the things people say and do, make me wonder how they manage to get up and go to work without causing major injury to themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think in some cases maybe common sense freaks out in extreme pressure cases, as i am sure you have experienced...'I know I shouldn't have done that. ' OR I know better'.
But good piece.