Common sense
sounds like a sensibility that is common to a species such as human beings. An
outlook that arises out of common sense is very often supported by specious
arguments. This appears to be a contradiction; or does it? It would not be a
contradiction if the outlook is based on certain principles, perceptions and
biological mechanisms that can turn out to be limitations. Physics is
instrumental in revealing the optical illusion of what we consider to be common
sense. It is made to look like a misnomer. The Greek philosopher Plato is noted
for his allegory of the cave. By way of the allegory, he shows how people get
deceived by what they see. They mistake appearance for reality without knowing,
poor chums, the sweet and bitter deceptions that ensue once the curtains subside.
When they see what happens behind the curtains, they are in for a treat. Some
become disillusioned with their senses and wish to pursue physics and even
philosophy.
The converse
is also true. If you come to study sensory inputs threadbare and you start
doubting the reality of what you see, you are sometimes scared that you may be
mistaking a snake for a rope, when what you are seeing is nothing but a
harmless rope. You do not trust your
senses at all to a point where it is dangerous. It is also true that a
perspective that takes years to prove can be realized very easily, by common
sense. Is common sense a particular faculty in our brain or is it just a simple
way of thinking which we overlook?
Some prefer
the simple to the far-fetched. Supposing in a restaurant, there are many novel types
of soups in the menu. Your friend tells you that he is going to opt for tomato
soup. You remark, “What...despite so many options!” He responds, “I prefer the
simple to the far-fetched”. This applies not only to choices and preferences
but also to thought and intuitions. Sometimes there is truth in what meets the
eye. It is not the figment of our imagination but that of skepticism that keeps
us from making progress in all our endeavors. Common sense is a shared way of perceiving the
world and understanding the sensory inputs that we receive. It eludes us
because of what we have learnt and the subjective reasoning that we have grown
accustomed to practicing as a matter of habit.
