Knowledge and common sense

     There's a fashionable saying these days: "You can lack knowledge, but you cannot lack common sense." What is knowledge? What is common sense? In my view, when we are young, everything we see, hear, and are taught is knowledge. But as we mature, some of the knowledge we use to interact with others gradually becomes common sense. For example: one plus one equals two; directions like east, west, south, north; boys can't use women's restrooms; the strokes of Chinese characters; and so on.

    It seems that common sense that we don't use often is knowledge, and vice versa. Common sense isn't necessarily knowledge, and knowledge isn't necessarily common sense. It's like a fruit that isn't an apple, but an apple is certainly common sense—perhaps even a bit like "a black horse is not a horse."

    Knowledge at the very beginning of life is certainly common sense, but after integrating into society, common sense is no longer necessarily knowledge. There are two reasons for this: First, because we are like blank slates at the beginning of life, our understanding is superficial, and those who enlighten us are also indifferent. Many pieces of knowledge become common sense later in life. We memorize them without fully understanding their meaning, and with simple instruction and a little practice, they become common sense. However, the complex and profound knowledge can only be truly understood and applied at different times and to different degrees, depending on individual aptitude, after we have memorized it thoroughly. This is like memorizing the pinyin table, the Chinese dynasty anthem, or the periodic table when we were young. Although we learned them without fully understanding, we later applied and practiced them with a clearer understanding. Secondly, much of our common sense, namely etiquette, comes from our subconscious habits passed down over thousands of years. Perhaps these very things were taught by uneducated elders in the beginning of life. This is like a mother teaching her daughter to be a virtuous wife, to be a good wife and mother, and to respect her elders; it is like a father teaching his son to be a strong and upright man and to be careful in choosing friends. These things, passed down from their ancestors to their fathers who lacked formal education, are also being passed down to their sons through their own example.

    I've always been amazed that in a nation with thousands of years of culture, it's always been a small group of intellectuals who interpret the outward symbols of our culture. Meanwhile, those uneducated village elders, barely literate, use their words and deeds to verify the essence of our culture and pass on its spirit, making it like a torch that has never been extinguished for millennia, illuminating our path forward. Of course, we can view them as a wordless book, a book whose greatest characteristic is that it uses the appropriate knowledge and discards the inappropriate. Perhaps what is used is called knowledge, or common sense. And the unused book knowledge, still called knowledge by intellectuals, whether true or false, we cannot know.

    Besides, people in reality have created some common sense that is not worthy of serious consideration, or that hasn't yet been translated into written language, and cannot yet be called knowledge. But this common sense often outweighs the golden words of so-called celebrities, or solves problems that those golden words cannot. This is like a patient with a rare and intractable disease that neither traditional Chinese medicine nor Western medicine could cure, but who was cured by a folk remedy. We can determine who was effective in this case. Of course, I'm not advocating that folk remedies are better than traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine; I'm just using this example to illustrate a point: in certain situations, only those who can solve the problem are heroes. As for those who succeed ninety-nine times but fail on the hundredth, they are not heroes, at least not in this context, although we cannot judge heroes solely by wins and losses. Even so, in my view, common sense is born from practice, and common sense verifies existing knowledge in practice. However, once knowledge is verified by common sense in practice, correct knowledge becomes equivalent to common sense, while knowledge awaiting verification is left idle. As for the common sense expanded in practice, although it may be greater than or equal to knowledge at this moment, cultured people who are good at summarizing and drawing on the strengths of various schools of thought will quickly compile those common sense pieces that are being recognized in practice into the realm of knowledge.

    In this way, common sense is packaged as knowledge, not only elevating their own status but also making it acceptable to those broad-minded, rustic elders. Because whether they are old men or intellectuals, they are all of the same blood, descendants of the same Chinese nation. It's like two brothers who often quarrel over trivial matters, but when facing external threats, they both understand one principle: internal stability must precede external defense. Knowledge and common sense are no exception. One may be farming at home, the other working in the public sphere, but they are brothers connected by blood. As long as they don't turn against each other, mutual tolerance is a given. Those at home help those outside, and those outside help those at home financially; neither can leave the other. Only with this division of labor can everyone live a good life. Knowledge is like gold stored in the national treasury, while common sense is like ore of unknown purity. Only after refinement does it become the radiant gold (knowledge). Without ore, there is no gold, but unrefined ore remains ore, not gold. Common sense and knowledge are like gold and ore—interdependent and indispensable!

    Common sense is something everyone must possess; it is the prerequisite for our survival. Perhaps some knowledge is of little use to most people. For example, functions are not relevant to a humanities or social sciences college graduate entering the workforce, as they not only didn't study mathematics in college, but also wouldn't apply it in their work. Studying functions is more suited to those who studied advanced mathematics in college than humanities or social sciences students. However, possessing some common sense is still essential. Perhaps the accumulation of common sense will enable us to handle matters objectively and fairly in many situations, without losing sight of the bigger picture. As for knowledge, it's like money deposited in a bank; over time, the principal increases and the interest grows. Therefore, accumulating common sense can make you worldly-wise, adept at navigating social situations, invincible, and wise in governing. Accumulating knowledge can make you simple and insightful, intelligent and refined, rebellious and capable, and even a leader.

    If we integrate the two, we will be invincible because of our mastery of common sense, and we will be intelligent and refined because of our mastery of knowledge. Only in a life built on common sense, and with that profound cultural foundation, can we go further and shine brighter amidst the unexpected storms of life.