Theory of Knowledge - What role does common sense play in society?

The following is my Theory Of Knowledge essay. I posted it on the blog hoping to give you readers a little insight on the topic.

Task: What role does common sense play in society? Define common sense and society. Talk about personal and shared experiences. (400 words)

What is common sense? It is something that is generally believed to be of expected knowledge. On the other hand, if we were to split the phrase into its two words “common” and “sense”, we find that they are vague words themselves. What is common? According to the Advanced English Dictionary, “common” refers to ‘something, whether physical or non physical, that is shared between two parties’. However, when we talk about common sense, are we talking about two particular individuals or more? And if not how far should it extend to? The word “sense” refers to ‘sound practical judgement’. This is in itself can be open to more interpretation; what is considered “practical” or “sound”. This is when social systems intervene to create limitations for these definitions. “Society” is defined as “an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization”. In extension to the definition I would like to add the phrase “all found in the vicinity”, because society will not include you if your physical presence is not there. For example, I am a Singaporean, but I would not be considered to be in a Singaporean society, because I am physically in another location from where the Singaporean society is located. There is a geographical location related issue as well; food and social customs will be included.

This muddles up the definition of common sense even more. What is considered common sense in one country would be not common sense in another. People experience what is called a paradigm shift; this happens when your environment drastically changes, often due to travel. In a world that is rapidly metaphorically becoming smaller due to globalisation we assume that ‘common sense’ in one country is the same as the other, but this is not the case. For example I was meeting a Tae Kwon Do instructor who was Korean and only used to teaching Korean students. It was ‘common sense’ to me to greet someone with a handshake. For him it was common sense to greet a younger person with a bow. It was a shock to him when I did not do the latter; rather I could sense a little irritation from him. But I wouldn’t know; my perception of common sense was not the same as his.

Learning from those situations, one has to then learn what is considered ‘common sense’ to someone else. This completely contradicts what my previous definition before; it is no longer general (due to dependence on culture and location) nor is it expected knowledge (because I just had to learn it). Rather it is something that a culture expects you to generally know. This is rather a burden of expectation (and another excuse for older people to scold you with) because it is forced onto you rather than subconsciously known.

In conclusion, common sense is not really common at all.