Common sense

In my last post, I wrote, "Common sense will serve you well …" But then I started thinking about that and I thought that common sense seems to be not so common at all.

It might better be called "uncommon sense" as it appears to be lacking in many of us.

Even if one possesses common sense, without specific knowledge, it might not serve him all that well. Common sense might tell you that a spinning saw blade or shaper cutter is dangerous. But if you are unaware of the specific danger of, say, kickback, common sense might fail you at exactly the wrong moment.

We are constantly discovering new ways to mess up one way or another. Those who discover these previously unrealized dangers are the unsung heroes of human evolution. The people who discovered that certain mushrooms are poisonous, for example. We don't remember their names but we acknowledge the value of their discovery and our debt to them.

D.D.