is common sence dead?

[weisyboy]

being brought up in the bush and working a long way from the nearest store or servo i have learnt to make do. its amazing what can be fixed with a bit of 8 gauge wire or electrical tape. we never had a lot of spare cash so we always made something we needed before we would buy it.

in teh last 12 months i have been amazed at the lack of common sence and practical knowledge some people have.

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i was on my way from dalby to mundubera one day a few months back and pulled into a gravel pit for lunch. there was a couple there in an old station wagon with a camper trailer teh wagon had broken a spring. there was no mobile reception any ware within cooee and they had been waiting there for a day and a half for someone to help them. (not on teh side of teh road but 100m off it in a gravel pit.

i cut a spotty sapling about 75mm diamiter and wired it to the chassis and axle and followed tehm back into dalby.

they couldn't believe that you could fix a car with a sapling.


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i struck a woman that had a flat tyre on teh new england highway, waiting for a tow truck to come from warwic (50ks away) cos she didnt know she had a spare tyre under the floor in teh boot.

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the amount of people we have winched out that have pulled off teh road only to find themselves in a table drain 3' deep is ridiculous.

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a split radiator hose can be fixed with a cob and co and a bit of electrical tape.

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lots of people with 4wd dont know how to put them in 4wd.

it astounds me the stupidity of some people. im sure there verry good at what they do but some people shouldnt leave the big smoke.

[ozhunter]

I think, to a large degree you are right.

People today don't have to rely on themselves nearly as much as they have in the past.

When we were kids we spent all our time outside, or working with Dad, we have 3000 acres. I remember me and my brother fighting over who was going to go to work with him. We were doing a mans days work at 12 or 13 and thought nothing of it. Try getting most 12 year olds today to do that.

All that time spent working, I believe, equipped us to be more self reliant, more inventive and come up with ways round things.

Today's world provides easy fixes for just about anything and stuff like 4x4 vehicles are more of a status symbol than a tool.

Although it has changed in the last couple of years, more expendable income and a throw away society has also changed the way people do things. Why bother trying to fix it, when I can go get a new one.

Urbanisation (I think that is the term for more people moving to or living in the city) doesn't help either. I met a bloke a few years ago who was in his mid twenties and had never been any further West of Sydney than Penrith. I think this type of thing stops people from being put in situations where they have to use their scone to get out of a fix - never leaving suburbia means that a mechanic or a tow truck is never more than a few minutes away, so they don't need to learn to be more self supportive (use common sense to fix a problem).

They should make common sense a compulsory subject at school from K to Yr12 and the first lesson should be that 18 year olds don't have what it takes to be a cop (sorry for the minor hi-jack, one of my pet hates)

oz

[jimbur]

Totally agree with you Carl but I think it's in the culture nowadays. The problem is that so much is 'magic' and lives in a sealed box that they think everything has to be done by experts.
The driving test should at least have a component that covers the basics like wheel changing, fan belts, oil levels, radiator and battery.
Cheers,
Jim

[Rum Pig]

Common sense is not that common.

I agree with you all but the bad news is it is going to get worse.
SWMBO has been on these courses about early child hood and some things are very scary.
One problem that is coming the attention of experts now is kids have been too spoilt. What I mean is if a kid wishes the play with money they get play money that looks very real. If they wish to do play cooking they get a plastic oven that looks very real and so on. No longer are kids getting a card board box and making a oven or paper and cut out money, so their imaginations are not being developed.
SWMBO as part of a course gave new mums of kids 3 years and under a plastic bag with things like a wooden spoon, plastic cups and bowl and plate etc and then asked the mums to play with their child with only what was in the bag and most parents could not think of anything not even making drums out of the bowls and cups. So it has started 20+ years ago and we are in for a long road back to common sense.

If you have a small child or grandchild think twice about what toys you buy them. I have a 3 year old and since SWMBO has been on this course we have changed the way we think and we can already see the benefits from our son.

Just to finish I remember hearing a story of a young lady that could not get into her car because the the battery on her key had gone flat. She fail to realise that the key could be used to old fashioned way of inserting it into the key hole and turning
Oh and who buys a mobile phone for the phone feature these days

[Charleville]

Good topic.

It makes me wonder if they still teach kids basic survival skills like I learnt at school in the 1950's.

ie things like how to treat a snakebite. (Well - not sure if that is such a great example because they don't encourage people to slice open the bite with a razor blade or a bit of broken glass, tie a tourniquet above the bite and suck out the poison with one's mouth like we were taught. )


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[Scribbly Gum]

We are in a society that is so scared of litigation that unless signs are erected for every little thing, people can claim that they were not warned and so sue someone for the consequences of their own stupidity.
Unfortunately this over-signage has had the effect of helping turn some, who were already dills, into zombies.
Here are some signs that have been seen - judge for yourself:

[RETIRED]

Oh and who buys a mobile phone for the phone feature these days

Me.

[Rum Pig]

We are in a society that is so scared of litigation that unless signs are erected for every little thing, people can claim that they were not warned and so sue someone for the consequences of their own stupidity.
Unfortunately this over-signage has had the effect of helping turn some, who were already dills, into zombies.
Here are some signs that have been seen - judge for yourself:

They are assuming people can read also not so common these days

[barnsey]

There is nothing quite so uncommon as common sense.

Don't know who said it but ain't it the truth!

Carl your examples are interesting but not at all unbelievable.

People these days do not even know why there are some buttons on the bottom of the shirt front much less how they could use them .

Common sense should be a mandatory subject for all to pass at all levels of education and a prerequisite to the purchase of any piece of equipment with any sort of instruction sheet/manual. Still I guess with the population expanding the way that it is, I suppose there are just too many towns who've lost their village idiot

[BobL]

Common sense should be a mandatory subject for all to pass at all levels of education and a prerequisite to the purchase of any piece of equipment with any sort of instruction sheet/manual. Still I guess with the population expanding the way that it is, I suppose there are just too many towns who've lost their village idiot

Just a reminder that common sense is not a magic bullet and often badly wrong, after all common sense once was that
- the earth is flat
- the sun goes around the earth
- a steam ship will never be able to carry enough coal to cross the atlantic
- a man must walk in front of all moving motor vehicles carrying a red flag
- if you are sick let me extract a couple of pints of blood and you will feel a lot better

Common sense is impossible to teach but we could teach a lot more logic and teach kids to question a lot more than they do now, but most wacky parents won't like like their footy team, religion or politics being questioned? And these are often the ones that want the common sense taught.

[Ashore]

is common sence dead? ...no.. .the English language on the other hand
The world has changed, and people are taught different life skills today, Skills that are relevant to todays world, this is the same process that has always been there. Things that our grandparents were taught as kids are now not needed in todays world ,

it astounds me the stupidity of some people..

but to call people stupid because they get into a problem when they are outside their comfort zone is, in my opinion a very narrow view indeed.

[Rum Pig]

Common sense should be a mandatory subject for all to pass at all levels of education and a prerequisite to the purchase of any piece of equipment with any sort of instruction sheet/manual. Still I guess with the population expanding the way that it is, I suppose there are just too many towns who've lost their village idiot

Who is going to teach the teachers

[barnsey]

is common sence dead? ...no.. .the English language on the other hand
The world has changed, and people are taught different life skills today, Skills that are relevant to todays world, this is the same process that has always been there. Things that our grandparents were taught as kids are now not needed in todays world ,



but to call people stupid because they get into a problem when they are outside their comfort zone is, in my opinion a very narrow view indeed.

Today's world is all about comfort zones. No-one wants to get outside the idiot box or game machine. We need reality shows for people to experience the real world and an endless supply of celebrity/entertainment world info.

Give me a break

The opinions of most people are so narrow they are beyond definition.

OK I'll get off the soap box before I get abusive but I'm positive that the western world and it's people are far too sheltered from the realities of existence hence the unanimous disregard of the environment and any social condemnation or commitment. It'll all be too late when the masses realize that common sense should have prevailed. Today's world has deprived the populace from being able to be common and have some sense about it.

Clearly blind Freddy and his dog are ever multiplying

[barnsey]

Who is going to teach the teachers

Good point

Used to be done by the people who had experience in real world life when I was a kid.

Think something went wrong somewhere

[acmegridley]

What about the Deputy Speaker in Parliament pressed the emergency button in one of the kazzies down there,thought he was locked in,help arrived, it was then he discovered it was sliding door.
God help us!!