Common Sense
Robert Howard Kroepel
Copyright © 2005
Lakeside Studios
20 South Shore Road
New Durham, New Hampshire USA 03855-2107
Common Sense
Rhetorical Question: What is common sense?
Rhetorical Answer: Common Sense = (A) Concepts [mental representations/ideas
of people/objects], principles [mental representations/ideas of relationships,
interactions, between/among people/objects, esp. causal relationships wherein
people/objects who/which are causes cause people/objects who/which are effects]
and techniques [applications of concepts/principles] an individual develops
through his experiences with the people/objects/events who/which are choices
in his environment for achieving his desires [desire = wanting a person/object/event]
and avoiding his fears [fear = not-wanting a person/object/event] and experiencing
happiness [the emotion which is the reaction to the achievement of a desire
or the avoidance of a fear] and avoiding unhappiness [the general emotion
which is the reaction to the non-achievement of a desire or the non-avoidance
of a fear and which is comprised of the specific emotions of sadness as a
reaction to a loss, anger as a reaction to a violation of a promise, and/or
fear as a reaction to a threat of a loss or violation of a promise], or (B)
concepts/principles/techniques individuals collectively have developed in
their experiences with choices in their environment for achieving their common
desires and avoiding their common fears and for experiencing common happiness
and avoiding experiencing common unhappiness.
We deal with ourselves and the people/objects/events who/which are choices
for achieving our desires/avoiding fears in our environment through our sense
organs for sight/hearing/touch/smell/taste.
As we experience ourselves and our environment through inductive reasoning
[from specific cases to general concepts/principles, i.e., from the specific
to the general] and deductive reasoning [from general concepts/principles
to additional general concepts/principles] we develop concepts/principles
inre the choices we have available for achieving our desires and avoiding
our fears.
A philosophy is an individual’s or organization’s set of concepts/principles/techniques
used for achieving desires, avoiding fears, and thereby solving problems
and experiencing happiness and avoiding unhappiness.
Concepts/principles/techniques can be based upon (A) observations of physical
evidence [people/objects/events comprised of matter/energy] via the sense
organs of sight/hearing/touch/smell/taste and verified by additional observations
of physical evidence, or (B) fantasies, opinions, beliefs, etc., based upon
desires/fears instead of factual observations, and not verified by physical
evidence.
Big Difference:
(A) Observations of Physical Evidence
versus
(B) Fantasies, Opinions, Beliefs, etc.
If concepts/principles/techniques are updated by verification by physical
evidence, then individuals individually and collectively develop a reliable
and therefore accurate set of concepts/principles/techniques which enable
them to achieve their desires and avoid their fears and thereby solve their
problems [problem = learning/determining how to achieve a desire/avoid a
fear].
A set of verified concepts/principles/techniques becomes a reliable basis
for common sense.
If individuals do not attempt to verify by physical evidence their concepts/principles/techniques
which have been fantasies/opinions/beliefs/etc., then those unverified concepts/principles/techniques
remain fantasies/opinions/beliefs and are not reliable for achieving desires/avoiding
fears and thereby solving problems.
An unverified set of concepts/principles/techniques is not a basis for common
sense because those unverified concepts/principles/techniques are not reliable
for achieving desires/avoiding fears and thereby solving problems.
Concepts/principles/techniques learned from the implementation of the scientific
method [and the quality movement/philosophy of modern business] require the
continuous improvement by continuous verification by physical evidence of
the concepts/principles/techniques which form the basis of common sense.
A common sense concept of a flat Earth will have to be replaced by an improved
common sense concept of a round/curved/non-flat Earth when physical evidence
proves the Earth is not flat. Newton’s concept/principles of gravity will
have to be replaced by an improved concept/principles of gravity when physical
evidence proves Einstein’s concepts/principles of SR/GR are more descriptive
of gravity than Newton’s concepts/principles of mechanics.
Inre religion [a philosophy which includes a belief in the existence of gods],
a god/goddess/demon/demonness/etc. can be defined as a being with more knowledge
than the knowledge of mankind individually or collectively and more capabilities/powers
for using that knowledge than the capabilities of mankind individually or
collectively.
Inre religion, a previous common sense concept/principle of a god/etc. creating
all reality from nothing has to be replaced by a concept/principle of a universe
existing forever with no beginning and no ending when physical evidence from
the scientists who conducted experiments/observations in mechanics which
produced the law of inertia [an object at rest or in uniform motion retains
its inertia/inertial state, e.g., of being at rest or in uniform motion,
until acted upon by a force which causes a change of its inertia/inertial
state, e.g., from rest to motion or from motion to rest, only a force can
cause a change of inertia/inertial state, and an observation of a change
of inertia/inertial state implies the cause to be a force] and from scientists
who conducted experiments/observations in chemistry and thermodynamics produced
verified concepts of (1) the law of the conservation of energy [in any chemical/physical
event energy is conserved, i.e., neither consumed or destroyed], (2) the
law of the conservation of matter [in any chemical physical event, matter
is conserved, i.e. neither consumed not destroyed], (3) the law of the conservation
of electric charge [in any chemical/physical event, the electric charge is
conserved, i.e., neither consumed nor destroyed], and (4) the law of the
conservation of momentum [in any physical event, momentum is conserved, i.e.,
neither consumed nor destroyed], and (5) the concept/principle of the isolated
matter/energy system wherein (A) matter/energy [m/e] cannot be added to the
m/e system [where would the additional m/e come from?], (B) m/e cannot be
removed from the m/e system [where would the removed m/e go?], and (C) the
sum total/quantity of the m/e of the isolated m/e system is a constant regardless
of whether the m/e is finite or infinite in quantity, and the confirmed/verified
equations of Einstein, e = mc2 and m = e/c2, show the interrelationship between
matter and energy, e.g., the convertibility of matter and energy wherein
matter can be converted into energy and energy can be converted into matter,
and the essential indestructibility of matter/energy [m/e is never destroyed].
Thus, matter/energy is infinite in existence in space and infinite in duration
in time.
The verified concepts/principles/techniques of science/scientists refute
completely the concept/principle that something can come from nothing and
require the acceptance of the verified concept/principle that something can
only come from something else.
The requirement of a god/etc. to be the source of matter/energy is eliminated
forever by the determination that matter/energy is of infinite existence
in space and in duration in time.
Gods/goddesses/demons/demonnesses who/which are claimed to be unobserved
unobservables are not verifiable/falsifiable/verified by physical evidence
and are therefore not reliable concepts/principles for achieving desires/avoiding
fears/solving problems/experiencing happiness/not experiencing unhappiness,
and therefore ought not to be included in an individual’s philosophy or in
an organization’s philosophy.
Summary
Common sense is an individual’s or organization’s philosophy which consists
of concepts/principles/techniques which achieve desires/avoid fears/solve
problems and enable individuals to experience happiness and to avoid experiencing
unhappiness.
The concepts/principles/techniques of common sense must be continuously improved/updated
by verification by physical evidence to remove/replace concepts/principles/techniques
which are either unreliable or otherwise are less reliable for achieving
desires/avoiding fears/solving problems/experiencing happiness/not experiencing
unhappiness than the new/improved concepts/principles/techniques.