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Common sense is a hard thing to define. It is something which some people seem to possess by the bucket load and others do not seem to possess at all. One thing I have learned, working at a hospital, is that many gifted, highly intelligent people have little or no common sense. I have seen Professors, with brains as capable as Alfred Einstein's, unable to open a simple lock, if it is something out of their normal routine. I have never been able to decide if it is because such people's minds are so involved with complicated thought processes that they have no space for the mundane parts of life,or if it is just because they have no basic common sense.

I have also encountered people over the years who have had a poor education and would be classed as a little stupid but who I know I could rely on in an emergency. I say this as most of these people have been quick witted and have possessed masses of common sense.

Overall I tend to believe that most people in this world have something to offer. Some people have little or no common sense but could never be classed as stupid. I wonder really if stupid is an overused word that really is irrelevant and a poor adjective to use in most cases. In my daily life I know that I value common sense in a person often much more than 'brains' but do not see a lack of common sense as stupidity.

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