Common Sense Living

You would not be here on this earth, neither would I……….!

We will breathe our last breath but the Carbon will not, it will go back to the soil and some plant will again take it up and will take it to another plant and animal life.

I realize & feel my ancestors in all living & dead; in soil, rain, trees, dust and in the gentle breeze that touches me so often … !

Something which is as true as Carbon to our lives is Common Sense. We are humans who make out, think and undergo life's little ifs & buts and big rocks as well. To lead a well managed life one needs to be allied to the certainty and the practice of this accuracy is Common Sense. Common Sense is ageless but it transforms itself on the parameters of relevance to remain of paramount value in its application in generalized sense. The good life is inspired by truth and is guided by the Common Sense.

Common Sense is ubiquitous and omni-applicable phenomenon comprising of countless lines of direction. It executes itself through these multiple lines which could be labeled as Common Sense threads. Common Sense thread is the Common Sense applicable in a particular instance of situation, condition, circumstances, moment and state of affairs but at a point of time in life, how can we assure that this is the Common Sense thread applicable or this Common Sense is valid for the moment? Is this Common Sense forever? Is it ultimate for all the time to come?

There is an order in the universe; every thing undergoes a cycle so do the Common Sense; it subjects to a life cycle so every Common Sense thread undergoes a life cycle.

The life cycle of any unit is a progression, a series of differing stages of development from its inception to a state in which other entities are reproduced from the same; the life cycle of Common Sense is also the normal stages it passes. The cycle comprises :

1. Creation
2. Development and
3. Destruction

Development Stage has many sub stages, to name- Bringing into Play, Conserving, Testing and Analyzing, Revising, $-testing, Refilling and Reorganizing, Putting forward, and Archiving.

In its life cycle, Common Sense reproduces; it reproduces up-to-the-minute Common Sense by various modes- fusion, fission and transformation into new insight as per changed relevance.

Fig. 8 Life Cycle of Common Sense

THE COMMON SENSE LIFE CYCLE

THE CREATION CYCLE

Common Sense is created by the experiences, obtained through the occurrence of some sudden or gradual incidences or earned through close observations. They can be others' experiences as well. These experiences are related to key life issues and building blocks of life. It may be your personal experience or experiencing what others are experiencing or have experienced. It also comes from sacred writings of the world, contemporary or old literature, films and media, listening to great people and through formal and informal conversations.

We know the sources of Common Sense- principles, values, key life issues and building blocks of our life. When we experience them and apply Common Sense in the periphery of their allowance; or see others doing the same, then we get some answer out of that. It becomes our experience which gives birth to a new Common Sense thread which helps decide the right and the wrong; the good and the bad of the milieu.

THE DEVELOPMENT CYCLE

This way we create some Common Sense; we find as if we have created it but the Common sense is ever-existing and ever-governing the consequences, what we do is the discovery and rediscovery of the Common Sense threads in the new backdrop. The development is gradual process of discovery and rediscovery and it could not be reached in one go.

Through the incidences of life, we experience or logically derive in mind's eye the power of application of Common Sense and drawbacks of negligence so we conserve it in our volumes of mind. When the demanding circumstances of its application come, we make use of it. This is called Bringing created Common Sense into play. This is also called practicing. In classroom, teachers recommend neat and clean presentation in examination, this is one of the Common Sense thread for securing good marks. In cricket and other games coaches give number of tips for different situations. These are also Common Sense threads. In our family life we practice many a do's and don'ts, thus we can say all these learnings acquired is Common Sense until it is not obsolete.

In our lives, firstly we face small and ordinary situations and the Common Sense thus created works because similar general circumstances and the Common Sense required to handle them are never strange and we get counsel from various sources very easily. So the Common Sense thus accumulated seems everlasting and we Conserve it.

But as we proceed towards complexity and convoluted situations of life it becomes tougher.

Complex situations demand flexibility in the application of Common Sense. So the old Common Sense conserved undergoes Testing and Analysis. In testing and analysis, we firstly check the degree of relevance of applicable Common Sense thread in prevailing circumstances, or the scope of furnishing it with a new edge or sharpness. If it does work then it is put forward and archived again for further use.

The lacunas and obsoleteness found due to the change in time, combination and complexity of the situation gives space to Revision to bring out the conforming and relevant Common Sense.

The new Common Sense thread is reproduced from fusion, fission, transformation or through new emergence. In fusion, two or more Common Sense threads form a new meaning and is treated as a new Common Sense thread. In fission, one thread rips into different nuances, denotations, shades, touches; and the scope of it is understood in new light in diverse and unlike instances.

In transformation, some new insight is added or some obsolete insight is replaced in part or as a whole.

And new emergence is eureka, it's the discovery of undiscovered thread.

The revision process is accompanied by ß-testing. ß-testing is putting the revised Common Sense to test in real life situations to get it approved for further use or to undertake it for another revision cycle.

The Common Sense thus validated is Refilled and Reorganized as per its relevant application and archived in our minds for further references. And through the same references it is brought into play again. This way development of Common Sense goes on.

We draw a lot of Common Sense from wisdom of religious scriptures as these are the perpetual source of Common Sense. Times changed but the relevance of Sri Madbhagvad Gita for personal development and Ramayana for social & familial life is still same because these are the fruits of the development cycle. The manuscript written by the opening creator was not that elaborated as today but it passed through generations and the wisdom of each generation contributed through its new discoveries about the truths of life.

Chanakya Says a verse, that means- “In a herd of millions of cows a calf unerringly locates its mother easily. Similarly the consequences of a person's actions follow him without any let up.”

How many of us have seen the herd of cows or a calf locating the mother in the herd.

I can't say it's fully irrelevant but it is partially relevant for present age. With the rapid urbanization and technocratic attitude, the new generation is not able to understand these things, and sooner it will become story of past for many.

In modern parlance, we can express the same as- “In a herd of trillions of URLs, an email unerringly locates it email server easily. Similarly the consequences of person's actions follow him without any let up.”

The purpose behind the transformation of this Common Sense thread was to make it more sharable, more meaningful and more relevant. This way the transformation (development cycle) goes on.

The development cycle makes the phenomenon of Common Sense timeless by fitting it with the changed priorities, styles, customs, places, and time periods.

THE DESTRUCTION CYCLE

Common Sense out of scope of this development cycle goes obsolete. Once I read another verse of same age which meant that a wise man must not reveal anything about formula of one's private medicine, one's own religious resolves……..etc.

In modern times, this is not applicable. Today's punch line is collaboration, intended to help people involved in a common task to achieve fastest common accomplishments for the welfare of humanity.  It needs to be destroyed and a new relevant Common Sense thread should be created to present the guidelines in this concern.

The nucleus of this cycling system is principles governing the consequences and if the choice is not revolving in the orbits influenced by its force, the consequences will vary and hence life becomes misleading and causes a loop of failures.

Fig. 9 Loop of Use of No Common Sense

Humanity has passed through five major evolutionary phases - Hunter- gatherers, Agricultural, Industrial, Information, and Wisdom age. If we compare them on the parameters of some key life issues and building blocks of life, then we will find major variation in the Common Sense used by them. We are living in information age and gradually moving towards wisdom age in developed countries.

* Hunter-gatherers

Table 1 : Common Sense of Different Ages