Common sense and professionals. Metaphor of pure gold.
Sometimes I wonder if common sense is uncommon whos in the land. Maybe
it's a rare commodity to be cultivated & cherished.
Neil de Grasse Tyson (1)
The
purity of gold
When the purity of gold
is valued, there are special measures that account for purity. The gold pieces,
jewelry or any object, have different levels of purity, and differs from
tinsel, fake gold or "fool's gold". (2)
The purity is measured
by a unit called carat. The higher purity of gold greater number of carats and
therefore higher value of the gem or piece evaluated. To measure karat gold we
use share parts used for every 24. That is, a gem with 18 karat has 18 parts
gold 24. In percentage terms, 75% of the jewel is gold (18/24 = 0.75). For
silver, the monies are measured in parts per 12, then 9 monies equivalent to a
jewel made of 75% silver.
No jewelry is 24K gold
or silver 12 money, get rid of having impurities. Other elements such as silver
or copper form alloys that give greater hardness and malleability to gold.
A notation that
simplifies the writing of the purity of the compounds is the "number of
nines" purity. A material with a purity of 99.9% having a purity of 3N (
"three nines"). In the case of 24-karat gold stipulates that it must
have at least a purity of 3N, ie should be made up 99.9% gold. The Mint Perth
Mint won gold with an incredible purity of 6N (99.9999%) in 1957.
Common
sense
For this phrase no
single definition is available, so I present some ideas. The term describes
common sense beliefs or propositions that are fed by society (family, clan,
people, nation or humanity). Common sense is the basic ability to perceive,
understand, judge things, which is shared ( "common") by almost
everyone and can reasonably be expected of most people without debates or
discussions. It is a basic type of awareness and ability to judge is expected
that many people share naturally even if they can not explain why.
Common sense is
equivalent to knowledge and shared by a community and considered prudent,
logical or valid beliefs; it is the natural ability to judge events and events
reasonably.
The concept of common
sense is used to designate the intelligence that developed the human being and
it allows you handled wisely in different life situations. Common sense is
understood as what is right to do, think or say at certain times, although this
does not necessarily imply that action, thought or that phrase are correct.
Henri Bergson
(1859-1941) defines common sense as "the ability to orient themselves in
practical life”. Thomas Reid (1719-1796), the Scottish school of common sense,
says" common sense is an inferential power throughout human action where
the interest comes before duty ". it also ensures that the principles of
common sense" are universal and fixed and not subject to review or renewal
"(universalism). Karl Popper (1902-1994) however, recognizes that contents
of common sense "itself are subject to challenge and change"
(Contextualism).
Common
sense, is taught or learned?
With universities and
the increased complexity of life, appear
professions and professionals who must theoretically always decide right
regarding its scope. Thus, a construction engineer should always decide the
right thing in relation to their works, bridges or buildings; physicians should
decide whether or not a surgical operation is performed; enterprise
administrators should determine whether or not enter a market; financiers must
demonstrate whether to apply for a loan or other financial transaction is made.
But sometimes works or
bridges fall or collapse, patients die, markets are lost markets and the
company goes bankrupt, or financial disasters. Does this indicate that professionals
are bad, incompetent or that the profession is always linked to failures or
losses? Not necessarily. Perhaps technically they were right, followed the
correct procedures and protocols in each case, but something went wrong,
something missing, something that is common to all professions and
professional, but unfortunately is not accessible my employed by all
professionals. It is common sense that many do not feel or understand, or
sometimes refuse to use it because it means going against the current, not
literally meet protocols, rules or orders. Sometimes the use of common sense,
is rejected because it requires getting out of the comfort zone of safety.
The engineer who
carefully followed the instructions of the planes, and respected schedules,
meet deadlines and costs observed as the bridge opened with pomp and pride,
falls and causes a lot of damage to people, to pride, to the company. Why? He
did not dare to delay the work a couple of days to find out more about some
leaks and anomalies on the ground, despite the advice of laborers who warned
about the risks of collapse of the ground. He knew much technique, there was
always built bridges and similar situations had not done anything. But one day,
something goes wrong.
Common sense also
includes the ability to serve, to listen to others that if they have common
sense. At the end, use and exercise of common sense is not a technique, is an
art and artists are just people equipped for art, nobody else.
Common sense is not in
the curriculum of any profession, because you can not teach, it discovers and
develops but no one can learn to act with wisdom and sanity from scratch. As in
art anyone without paste artist, or anyone who has the creative impulse as a
motivating force, can offer a sublime work. Bob Ingersoll, already sensed this
and valued above common sense education. And he was not wrong (3)
The
fallacy of academic qualifications
Is there a causal link
between the possession of titles and degrees and common sense? No, it depends
on the people and circumstances. In some cases, the relationship between common
sense and academic qualifications is direct and evident, as shown in Figure 1. And the reason is simple: the titles and
degrees truly reflect the skills, gifts, abilities of people who were granted.
For most cases it is not necessarily so. (4)
Now I propose a
comparison between the strength of gold (the amount and carat) and common
sense. A direct relationship simple: A higher purity or karat number, the
greater common sense.
A well-trained jeweler
can distinguish the legitimate from the false and spurious, never buy
"gold of 25 or 26 karat" and not confuse pyrite and pure gold. A
trained executive ben not be impressed by titles and degrees, look in other
respects the skills and capabilities he needs for organization or project.
Some colleges award
double, triple or quadruple degree to who has completed a Masters program.
Interesting offer, but a study trip a week to a university is not magic or
guarantee has formed the ability to make good decisions reinforced with a
strong common sense.
In Figure 2
the possibilities in relation to common sense and the availability of
titles is. real gold metaphor is used to show the possibility of genuine and
spurious powers.
The offer of universities
is due to competition and marketing. Who sells something and has strong
competition, now must add value to the product or service it sells to attract
the undecided customer. Which it puts extra largest cherry on the cake so it
will sell faster and perhaps higher price. There are people, whose number is as
scarce as common sense, whom receiving diplomas or degrees do not change
anything them, because they already have the conditions, capacities, gifts and
common sense. Diplomas, double, triple or quadruple, are only formal or protocol
elements.
Among those attending
undergraduate, master's or doctorate, very few have the conditions necessary to
take advantage of resources and opportunities. Students are first class and
there because seek and accept challenges, want to think and exercise common
sense. For them, the goal is not diploma or degree, but opportunities to
demonstrate his genius through research, books, papers and other publications
which provide knowledge through professional field in which they work. They are
not passive receivers and repetitive theories and knowledge, are not
"fanatical followers" of theories and formulas to which attribute to
"magical powers". Featured professionals are proactive creators, who
question, if necessary, what they learned and propose improvements, changes,
evolution and usually are iconoclasts.
They are definitely like gold 6N, his deeds and works reveal them, and quickly are recognized by who is well
trained.
In Figure 3 you can see that the
person who finds and selects the best is also the best and therefore is not
caught in the trap of appearances, tinsel, from the false.
How can the movement
arrow 1? When the person you have chosen is inexperienced, is influenced by the
illusion. Choose tinsel or prefers because he can not recognize it, not to make
the effort to identify what is authentic and also because she is also someone
who has plenty of tinsel or pyrite, and a marked absence of pure gold shortage.
The arrow 2 at the top,
who chooses and is the same is pure gold, gold 6N therefore legitimate and can
recognize what is false, spurious. By its very nature it does not suit you mix
or interact with someone less level, issues of pride and strictly practical
reasons.
This rule is common in
the private sector and the few cases where tinsel preferred are notorious and
often quickly make the necessary corrections. An incompetent, a subject with
fake diplomas or degrees, can not be CEO of a large organization, unlike the
public sector where an illiterate or incompetent can be a minister, congressman
or a senior official. In a developed country it is more difficult this aberrant
situation because in addition to economic development, there is greater social awareness and civic values are most practical and not easily pass these aberrations; in a backward country it would be a surprise, or if you want a miracle, find the head of a competent public institution really someone. There are exceptions, of course, but they are as extreme statistical data, are neglected in the analysis.
The
Common sense ¿desirable or rejected?
Common sense is used to
do the right things right. Common sense is desirable because it helps make more
appropriate under the circumstances, for best results, to improve the world and
improve the status and situation of those involved or affected decisions. He
who does not use common sense prefers herd behavior, follow the herd, hide
among the group to avoid responsibility, follow groupthink (groupthink, Janis,
1972).
Can you go from level 1
to 2, in the context of Figure 3? In case you choose yes, because with the
training, dedication and humble enough to recognize its current limitations,
you can incorporate the ability to distinguish the legitimate from the false.
The exercise of common
sense is difficult to teach. As the exercise of thinking, it is a painful
activity that demands effort, sacrifice and often forced to act in opposition
to what the majority decides.
It is difficult to teach
common sense because it needs to be iconoclastic, take the risks of sanctions
or rejection, misunderstanding, loneliness and permanent criticism
That is why there are so
few thinkers, so there are few people with common sense. And as a popular
phrase says, "common sense is a flower that does not grow in any garden." Do not buy, it exists in nature, but it develops when there is will and
determination to act often assuming costs and incomprehension.
To read the entire document, select the following links:
https://issuu.com/home/docs/common-sense-gold24k-pdf_eng-jun201/edit/links
https://issuu.com/home/docs/sentido_comun-oro24k-pdf-spanish-ju/edit/links
Notes
(1) Neil de Grasse Tyson
(Bronx, October 5, 1958) is an astrophysicist, writer and science writer.
Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, a
research associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of
Natural History. It hosted the sequel to the TV show Cosmos: A Personal
Journey, written and originally presented by Carl Sagan, "Cosmos: A Space
Odyssey time" premiered on March 9, 2014.
(2) The carat is an
ancient unit of measurement that indicates the amount of gold that has a jewel.
Carat measurement unit can refer to two different magnitudes. There is a carat
as the unit of mass, whose equivalence is 200 milligrams, and there is a carat
as the unit of gold purity.
Pyrite is a mineral
group of sulphides whose chemical formula is FeS2. It has a 53.48% sulfur and
46.52% iron. It is known as "fool's gold", "gold-poor" or
"tinsel" for its resemblance to gold.
(3) Robert
"Bob" Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) was a lawyer, a veteran of the
American Civil War, political leader and orator US during the Golden Age of
Freethought, remembered for his great culture, criticism of religion and his defense
of agnosticism. His speeches were in memory of people, and although sometimes
stretched for more than three hours, the audience never impatient. Ingersoll
was a friend of the poet Walt Whitman, who regarded him as the greatest orator
of his time.
(4) While attending
graduate school in business, the only existing at that time in my country, it
was an established custom work groups. Half of my group had a
"talent" for me was elusive, although I would not mind having it,
"the pocket with many banknotes". And I guess in the other groups the
picture was similar. The diplomas or degrees and common sense have no
correlation, or if there is minimal and punctual.
References
Sentido común
http://definicion.de/sentido-comun/
Common sense
Sentido común
Gold purity and colour guide: what is the difference between 24K, 22K
AND 18K GOLD
Fineness
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fineness#Carat
What is
gold karat?
http://www.goldpriceoz.com/gold-karat.html
Ybarra
Raúl, Los quilates del oro - Modificación
http://www.raulybarra.com/notijoya/biblioteca_archivos_1.1/notijoya_1.1/archivosnotijoya2/2oro_quilates_cambio.htm
Ley (pureza)
Robert G. Ingersoll
