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How good is your common sense? Take our quiz

'If common sense was common, then most people wouldn't make the kinds of decisions they do every day'

Elsa Vulliamy
Wednesday 16 December 2015 12:22 GMT
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Computer generated image showing brain activity
Computer generated image showing brain activity (Science Photo Library/Getty Creative)

Common sense is defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or fact”.

Common sense, in actual fact, is not that common at all. We try to judge situations well and act accordingly but - lets face it - we still get too drunk, eat food that'd bad for us and spend all our money on stuff we don't need.

1,000 people on average are treated in the UK for firework related injuries. We're not all that clever sometimes.

As Pyschologist Jim Taylor says in Psychology Today: "Common sense is neither common nor sense. There's not a whole of sound judgment going on these days (though whether it is worse than in the past, I can't be sure), so it's not common. If common sense was common, then most people wouldn't make the kinds of decisions they do every day."

Most peole think they have a fair amount of common sense, but evidence might suggest otherwise.

Test yourself below.

So just how sensible are you?

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