“Much of the research in psychology speaks to individual differences in psychological traits. Some people have fantastic long-term memory but cannot find their keys to save their lives—whereas others are just the opposite,” Dr. Geher, from the State University of New York at New Paltz, told Bored Panda via email.
“Some things that seem like ‘common sense’ to one person might seem like trigonometry to the next. This diversity in people’s psychological traits is, to my mind, a beautiful thing. But it also helps to explain why some people just don’t understand certain things that seem obvious to others,” the psychology professor explained to us.
Dr. Geher pointed out to us that people’s survival instincts in the past were related to things that are very different from what we can find in the modern world.
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“Furthermore, when it comes to things like reading directions or eating food with the wrapping on, we are partly talking about processes that only exist in the modern world and that did not exist during the lion’s share of human evolutionary history—so there is a mismatch there,” he said.
“I would posit that when it comes to ‘common sense’ for things that matched our ancestral conditions (e.g., staying away from venomous snakes), people, on average tend to do a bit better than when dealing with stimuli from the modern world. In a sense, what helps us to survive now (e.g., strapping in when driving) is very different from what would have helped our ancestors survive under ancestral conditions (e.g., avoiding snakes and cliff edges),” the professor told Bored Panda.
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We were also interested to find out how someone might go about cultivating a greater sense of awareness with regard to improving their survival instincts if they’re lacking. Dr. Geher was kind enough to walk us through this.
“On one hand, generally, the human brain can actually be pretty malleable—so some of these things may be learnable. On the other hand, some things are just very difficult for some people to learn,” the psychology expert noted that even if someone might want to master ballroom dancing, that might be next to impossible no matter how hard they try.
“I’d say that people can step back, be cognizant, and learn some basic ways to improve interfacing with—and surviving in—the modern world. But only to an extent,” Dr. Geher said.
“At the end of the day, the story of human psychology is a true mixture of fixed attributes and malleable attributes—we all have both.”
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Common sense isn’t as common as you might think. It seems absolutely obvious to (hopefully) all of you reading this that you should remove the plastic wrapper before eating something. Or that you shouldn’t use electric appliances in a bath.
However, not everyone is aware of simple things like this. Some individuals might have had very stressful or extremely sheltered upbringings, so they haven’t learned about the risks of doing certain things.
If they had a troubled childhood, they might not have had authority figures in their life teaching them these all-important lessons. Meanwhile, if they were being mollycoddled all the time, they might not have any hands-on experience doing basic chores like ironing, mowing the lawn, cooking, and cleaning. What’s common sense to you and yours truly (hi!) might be rocket science to someone else.
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On the other hand, some individuals can have warped perceptions of danger and morality. They might not understand how risky it is to touch the spinning blades of a lawn mower, for instance, but they want to see what happens anyway.
Other people might take things far too literally. That means that unless something is expressly prohibited, they might not know to avoid doing it.
Similarly, they may have problems with understanding the consequences of their actions. They might focus only on short-term issues and rewards, completely ignoring the long-term.
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However, at other times, fear dominates people’s lives. Instead of being a reaction to real threats, it rises up as a response to imagined dangers. If left unchecked, it can go out of control and cause a lot of unneeded stress.
If you’re feeling excessive, irrational fear and it’s disrupting your daily life, you may need to talk to a health professional. They’ll be able to figure out what’s going on. You might be dealing with some sort of anxiety disorder, have a serious medical condition, or may be dealing with a phobia. In the latter case, you may want to seek a mental health specialist’s help. They can help reframe your fears so that they’re no longer disrupting your day-to-day routine.
The important thing to remember is that these people are professionals. They've got plenty of experience. They won't judge you. It's not a weakness to ask for a helping hand or some advice when you need it.
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