The worst bit was the maths. I’m 49 and haven’t worked out two-thirds of anything since 1992
Common sense is not that common: a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania concludes the concept is “somewhat illusory”. Researchers collected statements from various sources that had been described as “common sense” and put them to test subjects. The mixed bag of results suggested there was “little evidence that more than a small fraction of beliefs is common to more than a small fraction of people”.
It’s no surprise that there are few universally shared notions of what stands to reason. People took a horse worming drug to cure Covid! They think low-traffic neighbourhoods are a communist plot and call the police about KFC running out of chicken! We all think those other guys are the stupid ones.
Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist
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