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<\/a>By Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D. FAAP Doctor Eisman is in Family Practice in Aventura, Florida with her partner, Dr. Eugene Eisman, an internist\/cardiologist.<\/strong><\/p>\nIt couldn\u2019t possibly be!<\/p>\n
Doctor Curmudgeon glared at her Chicago Cubs Teddy Bear.<\/p>\n
The Bear glared back. But then, that particular Cub always glared. It was an old bear who was unaware that the Cubs had finally won a World Series in 2016 after 108 years.<\/p>\n
As sometimes happened with the irritable physician, she began to muse. Today, she mused about the phrase: common sense. It had been popping in and out of her mind for months.<\/p>\n
Good old Merriam-Webster comes up with \u201csound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor and Cubs Bear nodded their heads in agreement. Sounded good to them<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever,\u201d added the bear, \u201cCommon sense may not actually be common to everybody. What is common to me may not be common to you, Doc.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue,\u201d said Doctor Curmudgeon, \u201cBut you have to admit that there are certain instances where common sense is quite common.\u201d<\/p>\n
And where has common sense gone to hide when someone reaches down for their cell phone and starts to text and drive? These people seem to be nonchalant about the possibility of driving into a tree or another car or a pedestrian or harming themselves.<\/p>\n
Common sense should avert its eyes in shame when throngs of people gather together without masks! For shame indeed!<\/p>\n
And where has common sense gone when we ignore the thoughtful statements of scientists with experience, facts, data and clearheaded thinking? Instead we listen to those with no knowledge in the areas of which they rant. No thoughts of anything except how they can profit themselves by ignoring and defaming good people who are working for the common welfare.<\/p>\n
From E.A. Bucchianeri: Brushstrokes of a Gadfly: \u201cIt was not curiosity that killed the goose who laid the golden egg, but an insatiable greed that devoured common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Definitely! Common sense flies out the window when greed steps in! A quote for our time!<\/p>\n
The Chicago Cubs Bear managed to wink at his Doctor friend. \u201cPerhaps Dear Doctor Curmudgeon, the time has come for an old fashioned Socratic Dialogue. We need a few others to be present and then you can ask the question, \u2018What is Common sense?\u2019 rather than where has common sense gone. As with the manner in which your question has been posed, you are presuming to know what common sense is After all, the question of what is common sense is both a moral and philosophical question and therefore the Platonic technique of\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop!\u201d screeched the physician. \u201cI, personally, accept the existence of common sense and feel that I possess some understanding of what it is. Therefore, I see your Socrates, but I need to raise you one Thomas Paine, if you please.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in 1775 and 1776, Paine wrote in simple plain language why the colonies should dissociate from Great Britain.<\/p>\n
Scratching his head, the Cubs Bear queried, \u201cWhat does Thomas Paine have to do with common sense?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he HAD common sense!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoctor Curmudgeon, My ursine mind is in awe over the way you make your mental connections.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Doctor Curmudgeon is merely musing.<\/p>\n
And so, she mourns the near-death of old fashioned common sense. Why has common sense now become so uncommon?<\/p>\n
Doctor Curmudgeon\u00ae is Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D., a physician-satirist. This column originally appeared on SERMO, the leading global social network for doctors.<\/p>\n