The problem with “common sense” is that it is neither common nor sensible.   
   It is common sense that “life is not fair”; it is also common sense that   
   “you get what you give.” Now if life is not fair then you don't get what   
   you give; and if you    
   do get what you give then life is fair. Two mutually contradictory statements   
   are seen as part of the same mentality. And that means that that mentality is   
   nowhere nearly as sensible as it regards itself to be.   
      
   Logic has more to recommend itself. However logic too has its shortcomings.   
   Logic builds on premises; and if the premise is wrong then so is the   
   conclusion. As the computer programmers like to say, “Garbage in, garbage   
   out.” If your premise is that    
   blacks are inferior, or that women are stupid, or that Jews are evil, or that   
   entrepreneurship is exploitation, or that love and beauty are patriarchial   
   institutions designed to oppress women, then you will make all sorts of   
   logical arguments building    
   upon these premises while being utterly full of crap. So that when Luther said   
   that “reason is a whore,” he was talking about this shortcoming of logic.   
      
   Another problem with logic is that it can lead to coldness, hubris and   
   bigotry. If something contradicts one's supposedly logical worldview, then the   
   response is to attempt to invalidate it. Many people claiming logical   
   worldview consider it illogical to    
   believe in God, or telepathy, or astrology, or alternative healing, or   
   romantic love. When someone has experiences of any of the preceding, it   
   contradicts the worldview that one claims to be logical. Then one has two   
   choices: Either commit the claimed    
   illogic of modifying or challenging the worldview; or to commit the real   
   illogic of denying, repressing or invalidating the experience. The people who   
   have not had experiences of such things and are skeptical of them are making   
   an honest, innocent    
   mistake. But the people who have had experiences of such things and have   
   denied or repressed them are in no way honest or innocent.   
      
   This brings me to a different but related subject. When the idealism of 1960s   
   and 1970s were replaced by materialism of 1980s, the claim was that human   
   nature had won. This makes no sense whatsoever. Why would it be more human   
   nature to want a big house,    
   a fast car, and a pretty obedient wife, than it would be to want to help the   
   disadvantaged or take care of the environment? If what happened in 1980s was   
   human nature, then so was what happened in 1960s. One of the major arguments   
   against the hippie    
   naturalistic ideal was the Christian belief that human nature is “fallen”   
   or “of the Satan.” If this applies to people who are into acid, sex and   
   Led Zeppelin, then it most certainly applies to people who want a big house, a   
   fast car, and a    
   pretty obedient wife.   
      
   I have been accused all my life of lacking common sense. Guilty as charged; I   
   prefer knowledge, wisdom, experience and intelligence to a self-contradictory   
   mindset. I have been claimed illogical by some. They are wrong; I use reason,   
   I also see more.    
   Common sense has applications in business and politics, and logic has   
   applications in all sorts of pursuits. But neither is infallible, and both are   
   capable of delivering wrong results and being used for wrong.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)