a quoted discussion .

This is another quote that caught my eye; a quote that came from my little widget deal. This time the quote is from Gustave Flaubert, whose name sounds vaguely familiar from literature that I read in high school. In fact, I'm almost positive we read some of his stuff. Anyways, the quote is "I love good sense above all, perhaps because I have none." Now, common sense in itself is an interesting subject. There's quite a divide between 'book smarts' and 'street smarts.' In our case, street smarts is virtually equivalent to common sense.


Perhaps having no common sense would allow you to explore life better, while of course making you look supremely stupid. When kids are little, they have no fear. It's one of the reasons they get into trouble -- and the same reason why parents need to keep a close eye on them. Ignorance is their bliss -- but their curiosity can lead them into dangerous situations.

However, it's this time that is, in my opinion critical. In some ways it determines what kind of person they are going to be. I've been out snowboarding and seen these little kids that couldn't be older than 5 absolutely flying down the slope -- in a completely controlled way. They have so much skill. And maybe part of that is because their confidence level is just so high. And the realization that they could be seriously injured by partaking in this sport is simply absent from their minds. For now, it's all fun and games. The broader knowledge of the dangers of life comes in time.

And then here we are mixed into common sense. In the simplest form common sense can be stripped to be knowledge of facts, problem sets and solutions, multiplication facts, knowing your right hand from your left. Then there is the more complex side, where some people can read body language to a T, feeling and realizing exactly what is going on with others before even talking to them. There's the feelings you get on the street, when you just know something isn't right, or when you could be entering a situation that could be harmful.

So maybe he loves good sense because it is helpful -- however, it certainly would be interesting to ignore common sense for a few days and just see what happens. It's the risks that we take that could make or break a life. For some of us, it's that pragmatic quality, fear, and knowledge of what we call common sense that might be holding us back. For others, well, who knows.