In an old movie, “The Bells of St Mary’s,” a struggling grade school student had written an essay, with a little help from the Pastor, Father O’Malley (Bing Crosby) entitled: “The Six Senses.”  Everyone knows the five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, and may believe the sixth sense may be some form of ESP, but the movie essay identifies the sixth sense as “common sense” — a sense that is scarcely used in today’s world, as well as in earlier times:

—  “Common sense is not so common.”  Voltaire (1694—1778), a French philosopher.

Good ole “common sense” seems to have taken a back seat in this computer driven world in which we live.  If we do not know how to do something, we Goggle: “How to _______?” and we get a ready answer, whether correct or not, without the need for using our own ingenuity to work it out by trial and error to solve the problem.  Just what is common sense?  Lets take a common short cut, and access the computer through Google to find out:

— “Common sense is good sense and sound judgment in practical matters.”  (dictionary.com) 

— “When unsure how to solve a problem, use your common sense.” 
Catherine Pulsifer (1946—2013, an emergency room nurse and author of several books on inspirational words of wisdom. 

— Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.  Josh Billings (1818—1885), American humorist.  

—  “All truth, in the long run, is only common sense clarified.  Thomas H Huxley (1825—1895)

—  “Seek advice, but use your own common sense.” (Yiddish proverb)

In 1776, Thomas Paine (1737—1809) wrote a most influential pamphlet, entitled “Common Sense,” which challenged the authority of the British monarch and used plain language to openly seek for freedom from Great Britain to create a democratic republic.  It rallied the people to revolt against the English monarchy, leading to the founding of our country.  Common sense seemed to work back then. 

At this point, my common sense tells me that it is time to end this post.