
An often used adage is “an ounce of common sense is worth more than a pound of knowledge.”
Common sense is simply defined as a sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.
I grew up in a small bucolic town in the southern Interior of British Columbia in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
My dad was a shop foreman at the Ministry of Highways and a mechanic by trade. He was practically skilled at auto mechanics, carpentry, electrical, plumbing and welding. My mother was a stay-at-home mom who was crafty and thrifty at cooking, gardening, knitting and sewing. I learned to be practical from them.
As a teenager I developed an insatiable desire to read all sorts of books. The Mir bookstore was the only bookstore in town, on Market Street. I spent hours there, rummaging through different books. From classics written by the likes of Leo Tolstoy to science fiction written by Isaac Asimov and quirky mysteries by Agatha Christie, I devoured them all.
Jim, the tolerant owner, allowed me to browse through different books and introduced me to the works of Robert F. Harrington. I learned the value of reading.
Harrington was a retired schoolteacher and principal who lived in Galena Bay on the upper Arrow Lake. He wrote several books about living in nature, ecology and spirituality, including “Listening to the Earth,” Soul Solution” and “Thoughts from the Woods.” Harrington also published a magazine, aptly titled “Common Sense.” The periodical was chalked full of practical wisdom about life and nature. Through the magazine, I was introduced to the works of different philosophers, like Henry David Thoreau.
Thoreau was an American naturalist and transcendentalist, who wrote the classic book titled “Walden.” The book was about the author’s experience living on the shores of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts in the 1840s. He built his own cabin and foraged and grew his own food.
He eloquently described his kinship and reverence of the natural beauty around him. One quote by Thoreau that resonated with me was, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million-count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail.”
Harrington and Thoreau both expounded the views of appreciation of the natural world and simplicity in life. From them I learned the value of common sense. Common sense uses basic, rudimentary and practical interpretation of the facts to make practical and wise decisions.
Through the intellectual hierarchy of academia and higher education, we are exposed to intellectuals and so-called “smart” people. These individuals are often in positions of power and make policy decisions in government and other institutions that affect the behaviour of others. While some of their decisions are wise and prudent, others are not.
Many times I have met academics and intellectuals in positions of power who don’t know how to change a light bulb. They lack common sense and practical utilitarian ability to do things and make wise decisions. Often, they lack pragmatic insight into real world problems. They are great at book knowledge and intellectual theory, but they simply lack common sense to make wise practical decisions.
As the fallible humans we are, we often question and second guess our decisions and judgments. We often rely on the knowledge of so-called intellectual experts whose ego trump our own witless indecision. In some cases, that may be good but in others, it may not. Instead, I suggest we should rely on our own practical wisdom and try to use common sense.
The American humorist and satirist Mark Twain once said, “it is easier to fool someone, than to convince them they have been fooled.”
The often-used aphorism, “if it sounds too good to be true, it often is” is truer than we think. That can be directly applied to the world of medicine and especially natural medicine. I often tell patients who come in with calamitous and serious problems to get all the facts and then make a prudent decision about the course of treatment, based on the information presented.
There are very few magical bullets and divine cures in the world of medicine, including natural medicine. The road to improvement and treatment is often hard and difficult. Intuition and common sense play important roles in decision making about problems in health and life.
Trust your innate ability to make wise decisions and rely on your common sense.
The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical advice. All information and content are for general information purposes only.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.