Exhibit A.

Last Spring, I was at an academic awards ceremony for my older son, who at the time was completing his junior year in high school. The guest speaker spoke on a variety of topics, one of which was common sense. She asked the audience, “Did you ever notice that these days common sense is not very common?” Now, I have heard this asked before in various places—on television talk shows, from preachers, teachers, and comedians. What I noticed on this occasion was that nearly everybody in the crowd gave a “knowing laugh” to the guest speaker’s question. There were several hundred people in the crowd.

Being in a contemplative mood, a thought came into my mind. Why is everybody laughing? If common sense is so uncommon, then it stands to reason that only a few people should be laughing, that is, those with common sense. Everybody else should either have been squirming in their seats—slightly embarrassed to have their lack of common sense brought to light in public—or nonresponsive, cautious whether or not they would be considered included in the select “common sense club.” But, in fact, everyone was laughing. Why is this?

It seems to me the most plausible explanation is that most people see themselves as part of the small group in society that has common sense, and see others as not possessing it. That is, most people correctly recognize the problem—that there is a lack of common sense shown by many Americans out there today—yet most people feel like they are not part of the problem, but rather among the select few that have it all together. Most people think of themselves as among those who think better, faster, clearer, more practically, more analytically . . . all those things that might go into defining common sense.

This is Exhibit A. Exhibits B, C, and D will follow.