Uncommon Sense

“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don’t know the answer.”
― Douglas Adams

There are certainly a lot of things in the world we would all be happy to admit we do not know. I have no clue, for instance, the exact number of people eating dinner at this moment. I do not know what the bottom of the ocean looks like, the number of planets in the universe escapes me, and I have often wondered, with frustrated urgency, what the heck my dog is barking out the window at this time.

What we will be talking about here, though, is not the unknown, but widely known. I want to have some conversations about those basic common sense notions any 6 year old could tell you. Because as you may already have realized, a lot of those notions are totally wrong. Some others are flawed, scrambled, or misused. And unfortunately, there is no lie harder to spot than the one you do not even know that you believe. This is not made easier by the fact that our mind, though an amazing thing, has limits and blind spots, so that at times we really can’t tell who Superman is when he puts on his glasses.

I am far from an expert on these matters. However, I have come to love the process of discovering my blind spots - it is almost an addiction. There is the magical wonder of seeing a man pull a rabbit out of a hat, as you realize the world is not what you thought it was; the confusion as you begin to constantly check your hats for rabbits; the curiosity or happenstance that leads you to the explanation; and the final joy of piecing everything together into a new worldview. So I welcome you to join me in questioning a new piece of ‘common sense’ each week. Please add your knowledge, ideas and corrections!

Check out the archive here, and send any questions or comments to alex.sproule@gmail.com