Common Sense and Logic | Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.

Common Sense and Logic
Copyright © February 1, 2019 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.

Introduction
During the course of my life I have had a chance to observe the outcome of my decisions when my decisions were based on either common sense or on logic.

My reason for writing this short article is to share what I have learned.

Discussion
Man Holding Snake

First a definition of both terms:

Common Sense: The use of good intuitive judgment when making a decision about something that is commonplace or ordinary. No special training or knowledge is needed to understand the issues involved, and the most likely outcome of a decision should be intuitively obvious. Common sense is also known as horse sense or folk sense. An example would be: "Don't spit into the wind." The wisdom of this statement should be immediately obvious as a result of common sense -- the wind is blowing in your face and if you spit into the wind then the wind will immediately blow your spit back at you. This does not require any higher level learning to understand, nor does it require a variety of experiments to determine why you shouldn't do it.
Logic: Reaching a conclusion after considering the facts that may be available, or by using valid reasoning. An example would be: a = d. b = f. c = d. Therefore a = c = d.

Which is more important: common sense or logic?
In my opinion, common sense trumps logic whenever the two do not arrive at the same conclusion.

My experience has been that people will diligently search for logical reasons to avoid using common sense.
This is particularly true when a person really, really wants to do something but their common sense tells them not to do it.

Conclusion
Even though common sense is called common, in my opinion it is not as common today as it was when I was much younger.

My suggestion is that you should rely on your common sense whenever it contradicts your logic.

In my opinion, a person is never too young, or too old, to trust their common sense.

Respectfully,
Grandpappy.

Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com