{"id":45973,"date":"2025-04-09T17:15:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T17:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?p=45973"},"modified":"2025-04-09T19:00:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T19:00:43","slug":"common-sense-divisive-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/04\/09\/common-sense-divisive-word\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u201cCommon Sense\u201d Can Divide Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

In January of 2025, following <\/span>a tragic plane crash<\/span><\/a>, President Trump said that DEI programs played a role; explaining why he thought that, he said, \u201cBecause I have common sense.\u201d In February of 2025, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), President Trump announced, \u201cWe are the party of common sense<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump and other Republicans use \u201ccommon sense\u201d language <\/span>a lot<\/span><\/a> but it\u2019s not unique to them. People from across the political spectrum use the term. For example, some Democrats call for <\/span>\u201ccommon sense\u201d solutions<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>gun violence<\/span><\/a>, amongst other contentious issues. Political pundit Matthew Yglesias even wrote a \u201c<\/span>Common Sense Democrat Manifesto<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

People with opposite views can say their views are the \u201ccommon sense\u201d ones. So what does this term really mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Illusion of Common Sense<\/h3>\n

Calling a view \u201ccommon sense\u201d implies that people with some basic, normal level of intelligence would see things that way. Merriam-Webster defines it as \u201csound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.\u201d The <\/span>Wikipedia entry<\/span><\/a> for the phrase says it is \u201coften considered to represent the basic level of sound practical judgement or knowledge of basic facts that any adult human being ought to possess.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But in many cases where people call their views \u201ccommon sense,\u201d it\u2019s clear there are many people who think differently.<\/i><\/b> When we say ‘common sense,’ we\u2019re actually assuming (wrongfully) that everyone sees the world the same way we do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine arguing with someone about an issue and they say their stance is \u201ccommon sense.\u201d Intentionally or not, they\u2019re implying that you or your stance is ignorant and unreasonable \u2014 that you can\u2019t see something that, to them, is clearly true. Not surprisingly, this can be insulting to people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Reddit user put it in <\/span>a thread<\/span><\/a> asking what people think of this phrase: \u201cIt feels like mild gaslighting. You’re taking a divisive issue, and claiming that one side is \u2018common sense.\u2019 Well, if it were common sense, it wouldn’t be so polarizing\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How Arrogance Can Add to Our Divides<\/h3>\n

In his book <\/span>The Divide<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Taylor Dotson<\/span><\/a> writes about arrogance and how it can drive wedges between us. He sees \u201ccommon sense\u201d language as often representing that arrogance:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026by recasting political conflict as a battle between those who can reason and those who cannot, it encourages fanatical policy and undermines the possibility for compromise and coalition building. That is, when one\u2019s political world is divided into enlightened friends and brainwashed or stupid enemies, there is little sense in permitting opponents an influence on policy and every reason to enact extreme legislative action against them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we see our fellow citizens as either having \u201ccommon sense\u201d or being amazingly ignorant, why bother treating the ignorant ones with respect? Why not do everything in your power to suppress their stances and stop them?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Historical Perspective<\/h3>\n

The use of \u201ccommon sense\u201d in political debates is nothing new. In 1776, Thomas Paine\u2019s famous pamphlet <\/span>Common Sense<\/span><\/i> argued that separating from England was the obviously correct thing to do. Dotson writes:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his pamphlet Common Sense (1776), Thomas Paine claimed to be speaking only simple, irrefutable, and self-evident truths \u2014 in contrast to the bombastic and overly complex claims of philosophers and aristocrats of the time \u2014 when he argued that common sense dictated that the American colonies should separate from England.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, his opponents viewed themselves as being the ones truly in possession of common sense when they argued to the opposite conclusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Historian Sophia Rosenfeld is the author of <\/span>Common Sense: A Political History<\/span><\/i><\/a>. She writes that common sense has \u201calways been a cornerstone of American politics\u201d and that, today, it \u201cremains a powerful political ideal, utilized alike by George W. Bush\u2019s aw-shucks articulations and Barack Obama\u2019s down-to-earth reasonableness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Do So Many Use It?<\/h3>\n

We can see why well-meaning and smart people can be drawn to using this phrase. For one thing, we may really believe our views are self-evident to almost everyone. When we\u2019re highly polarized, we\u2019ll have a hard time understanding the narratives found on the \u201cother side.\u201d This means we\u2019ll often overestimate how obvious and common our own views are. This helps explain why even well meaning people can use the phrase: they may think they\u2019re just being persuasive.<\/span><\/p>\n

And of course some people purposefully use \u201ccommon sense\u201d as an insult \u2014 as a way to express contempt for their opponents’ views.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moving Beyond \u201cCommon Sense\u201d<\/h3>\n

The next time we hear political leaders, activists, or pundits invoke \u201ccommon sense,\u201d we should pause and consider what they\u2019re actually saying. Is it truly an objective truth, or is it just their perspective being presented as clearly obvious? Do they really believe their view is clearly obvious to most people or are they perhaps using it as an insult?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Making our political culture more healthy starts with us. We must <\/span>examine our own behavior patterns and language<\/span><\/a>. We can think about our own instinct to see our views as \u201ccommon sense\u201d \u2014 and we can think about how other people will feel about us using that term. Instead of implying that others\u2019 views are silly and irrational, we can work to <\/span>understand why people see the world differently<\/span><\/a>. By doing so, we create more room for empathy and dialogue, and lower toxicity and contempt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Join the Builders Movement!\u00a0<\/i>buildersmovement.org\/invite<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In January of 2025, following a tragic plane crash, President Trump said that DEI programs played a role; explaining why he thought that, he said, \u201cBecause I have common sense.\u201d In February of 2025, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), President Trump announced, \u201cWe are the party of common sense.\u201d\u00a0 Trump and other Republicans…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":45975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"collection_feed":[],"type_feed":[77],"class_list":["post-45973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow \u201cCommon Sense\u201d Can Divide Us - Builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/04\/09\/common-sense-divisive-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How \u201cCommon Sense\u201d Can Divide Us - Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In January of 2025, following a tragic plane crash, President Trump said that DEI programs played a role; 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