Common Sense 101 "Introduction"

Introduction
         
          What is Common Sense?

          Great scholars through the years such as Aristotle and Plato have argued and discussed this and how it is formed with no acceptable answers found !
          Rene Descartes is one of the most elegant writers of philosophy. He is also one of the most important of the western philosophers due to his determination to find a certain foundation for philosophy / truth that could not be assaulted by the skeptics!
His solution? That it is impossible to doubt that you are thinking (you must think to doubt) thus we can be certain that a thinking mind exists. From this certain foundation he then concludes that God exists as the necessary creator of our material world and minds, and matter exists because our mind senses corporeal matter (particles), and God would not deceive us.
          Descartes used the words "bon sens", the French term translated as "good sense". Quoting from the English translation of his Part 1 of the Discourse on Method "Good Sense is,of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for every one thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even who are the most difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a larger measure of this quality than they already possess. And in this it is not likely that all are mistaken: the conviction is rather to be held as testifying that the power of judging aright and of distinguishing Truth from Error which is properly what is called Good Sense or Reason, is by nature equal in all men; and that the diversity of our opinions consequently, does not arise from some being endowed with a larger share of Reason than others, but solely from this, that we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our attention on the same objects. For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough: the PRIME requisite is rightly to apply it. The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest excellencies, are open likewise to the greatest aberrations; and those who travel very slowly may yet make far greater progress, provided they keep always to the straight road, than those who, while they run, forsake it."
        While this author in no way compares with the likes of Aristotle, Plato, or Descartes, he cannot help but wonder what is going on in this world today? In this book I will try to show from examples of my own life, from the media and social media how the use of common sense has declined. I hope to with this book to cause society to at least look at itself and maybe discuss what is causing a decline in critical thinking.  Common sense seems to no longer to be in use, or at least it is not very common anymore. It has got to the point where people think it is remarkable, when you point out something they say, as only being common sense, or a common courtesy, such as calling before you go visit a friend . Is it possible that common sense is like any other part of the body, where if you do not use a body part, sooner or later you lose that part. It totally seems to be what is happening in American society today! There are a multitude of smart people in the world, but it is like they have given up a large portion of their Good sense in the process of their education or their rush to be rich and famous.
Could it be caused by external factors? Such as those so called Reality Shows on TV! My word, how much Stupidity can humans come up with?  The more there are, the worse they get. Or the internet, Facebook and other such sites just abound with Stupidity. Stupidity is the opposite of  GOOD SENSE, so this Author will try to find examples of Stupidity to show in reverse Common Sense. Please if you see yourself in some of these examples do not take offense, because it is just the writers personal opinion of what is Stupid. My favorite quote and I cannot remember where I first ran across it is, "If it is stupid, but it works, it is by definition not Stupid." So if stupid works for you then "WORK with what you have".