Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Common Sense

I liked reading this--and her book may be good, though I'm not compelled to read it. There exists wisdom that could be described as common sense, but not much. Even "common sense" teachings could be wrong from a different perspective: the "hand in the fire" example isn't quite right if your hand darts in and out quickly or if you are wearing an asbestos glove or if the fire is a low temperature one.

In fact the more "common" some bit of sense/wisdom/advice is the less likely it is to be useful when it comes to big questions. Uncommon sense makes for greatness. People who are able to see things differently and understand them differently and come up with better responses. This is true in business, personal life, and government. I'd rather a government that was great than one that was common.

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