Reply To: Who is really a Gibbor? Who is really a Kadosh?

Yankel Berel and Rescue, Re. ‘Common sense’

Yankel, you are very right, although it really isn’t even necessary to go as far as the Nazis ??? ???. Just look at how clueless the US government is when dealing with other cultures and mentalities. ‘Common sense’ means one thing in the US, but something very different in Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, or Iran [each one in their own distinct way.] Putin isn’t a raving lunatic, and neither is Khamenei. Xi was never even accused of being one. That doesn’t stop them from making decisions that baffle the Western mind, and appear to Americans to be divorced from ‘common sense’. Their actions make perfect sense to themselves and to those who share their mentality and values. Even within the US, a Progressive Liberal’s idea of “common sense” is radically different from that of a “MAGA” guy. Not so long ago [like 20 years or less] there was nothing more “self understood” using “common sense” than the fact that men are men and women are women, etc… [Something the Mishnah uses as an example of a ????? ???? because it is assur to swear for or against something self evident.] Now, saying that in the wrong place could get you “cancelled”, or even arrested [in the UK.]

What we like to call “common sense” actually contains a large scooping of “preconceived notions” and “cultural norms”, served in a “comfort zone cone” and sprinkled liberally with “confirmation bias”. Understanding this reality is the essential first step in any program of Mussar or self-awareness. By the way ‘Rescue’, the desire of most people to “be like the herd” and the desire of some people to “rebel against the herd”, are BOTH perfectly capable of tilting ones perception of reality and “common sense”.