Whats more important: Booksmarts or Commonsense

[pbfrontmanvdp]

This question has always been running around in my head since my family and i are always so competitive. I had a 4.2 GPA while my brother has around a 3.4. He always says that he's more capable in having a more successful future. He backs it up by saying he has more commonsense, which i always disagree on(i believe i have more). Even if that is so, booksmarts is what usually gets a student into a good college. The university i go to is pretty well known and has a good reputation, while my bro might have to go to a community college (not that thats a bad thing, but compared to a university it's easy to get into). Meanwhile commonsense might have a factor in finding a job. Most of the time there are interviews when applying for a job, and most of them are verbal so this sort of aspect comes in handy. In most interviews you have to answer the questions usually without hesitation and try to sometimes be concise and to the point.

I believe that commonsense plays more of an important role in life. Even though people sense that im more of a "booksmart" type of person, im really not. I only achieve to get good grades...cause...well thats what you need in order to get in an excellent college. It doesnt take much commonsense to know that. Right after college i know commonsense will be even more important. Just knowing how to maintain a house and pay bills will become an important factor. Setting up an elaborate schedule from day to day, just things like that will be important and these types of things are commonsense to my parents now.

So i was just wondering if you think whether commonsense or booksmarts is more important and why. Also i would like to know if you consider yourself as more of a booksmart type of person or one who has more commonsense. Thx

[Guest dayday]

Between booksense and commonsense,I would have to say commonsense. If you only know about things that come out of books you know nothing of the real world around you. Yes, you'd know how to get a carrier (sp) but if you knew nothing about it in the first place or how to use anything about it then it'd be harder to learn for you.

[Matto Tradagen]

[color=navy] [i] Gah, I have to choose one? In my opinion, they are both equally important.
Booksmarts. You're taught it for many years, with no surpirse, you need it to get one of the 'better' occupations. University/College is a great place to be, especially if you plan on making a lot of money. (Which most people are.) You cannot get into University/College if you don't have a fair amount of booksmarts. Simple as that, really.
But how are you going to even make it that far into life without common sense? If you don't have the common sense to know that you shouldn't be starting your 10,000 word paper the 3 hours before it's due, how can you even achive decent booksmarts? They go hand and hand in that instance.
But also anyway, without basic common sense, you won't be able to function properly with society. It takes some common sense to get even a minimun wage job. If you didn't, you'd be burning yourself in hot oil many times. (Literaly) They are both quite important. I can't come to choose one.
Me, I think I am more common sense than anything. I do however still have decent booksmarts..If I didn't have common sense, i'd wouldn't be putting thought into my posts, and i'd probably be spamming wouldn't I?
~Matto[/color][/i]

[Fyxe]

I think commonsense is more importent. I mean you could have a lot of booksmart and not have commonsense and that will make you look kinda dumb.:P I have more commonsense than booksmart and i could know way more things than a kid without alot of commonsense. It's just commonsense to know that commonsense is more importent.

[Emme888]

I think booksmarts is more important, cause you can't always sweet talk your way to the top. Being Suave can only take you so far.

Personally I think I have about 65% booksmarts, and 35% street smart. A pretty good mix, I think. I'm smart, but I know when it's right to shut up and bite the bullet.

"when you bit the bullet, I held the smoking gun" vendetta red

[wolfbaden6]

In my opinion, it's by far common sense because the human race really didn't using booksmarts until the mid to late 1600s, or about 450 years ago. We as humans, have been around for the past 6 million years. You do the math

[RicoTranzrig]

[COLOR=darkblue]It may have been more important to have common sense, but now I don't think you can get very far unless you show enough booksmarts for people to notice you.

In high school, you show off your performance in class to get into a good college, and the same goes afterwards when you start looking for a job. However, once you undertake more responsibilities, common sense becomes more important because you have to apply what you learned to keep your life stable.[/COLOR]

[pbfrontmanvdp]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by RicoTranzrig [/i]
[B][COLOR=darkblue]In high school, you show off your performance in class to get into a good college, and the same goes afterwards when you start looking for a job. However, once you undertake more responsibilities, common sense becomes more important because you have to apply what you learned to keep your life stable.[/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE]

True, but i just dispise how some people that are more qualified for a job are overtaken by a person who is less qualified, but knows the interviewer/employees. Like people that work hard, studing their whole lives are looked over by people that have streetsmartes and they are the ones who get the jobs cause they may happen to know the boss or whatnot. Sure it happens everyday, but its just terrible to see those who are truly qualified at a skill and have been waiting there whole life for a huge opportunity lose it to some joe-shmoe (sp? how do you spell that) that just happens to know someone in a company. Ahhhhh it just kills me.

[stormy_weather]

i think that they both are needed equally because you need to use common sense to know how and use your booksmarts when needed in life. And no matter where you work you'll need to deal with people and you use common sense to not get fiered and to make it "to the top".Common sense shows you how to do something while booksmarts show you how to know something, there is a lot different between knowing and doing.

[eleanor]

[size=1] In the long run, I'd say booksmarts are more important. Common sense is also important...but, you just gotta have booksmart to get a good future.

:toothy: They say the smarter you are, the less common sense you have. [/size]

[FartMaster745]

[size=1]I once was face w/ a question like that. The question was what was the difference betweem smart and intelligent and which is more important? I said that intelligence is just knowing stuff and being smart is knowing when to use intelligence. So being smart doesn't mean anything without any intelligence and being intelligent doesn't mean anything without being smart.

Okay now for my opinion on this subject:
I say commonsense is more important but it can only get you so far and w/ booksmarts you get even farther.

I'm like a 50/50 on commonsense and booksmarts because that is who I am. Other combination may work better for other people[/size]

[blkwingedangel]

i'd have to say commonsense... because if you don't have commonsense then... you're in trouble

[satan665]

In later years, and in industry (jobs) usually the really super-smart highly qualified people are surpassed by the average-intelligence person that is a really dedicated hard worker. Also some of the smartest people (booksmart) that I have met in my life don't go to college or hate it and drop out. Both of these examples seem pretty common. I think common-sense and hard work can almost always make up for lack of book-smarts, but a lot of intelligence cannot make up for lack of dedication and common sense. Blah, blah, my vote goes to common-sense easily.

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]Common sense. Yes.

I have a friend who graduated as validictorian of our high school, yet she lacks the common knowledge on how to get to the mall without directions. She has no common sense, and it's really, [i]really[/i] annoying at times.

She prides herself on her 4.0 college GPA, but she spends nearly all of her time studying when she could be out in the world learning valuable common sense :) Actually, if you didn't know that she was so in love with studying, you might think she was a little on the dim side of smarts.

I guess I have a lot of common sense, but I also lucked out to be born semi-naturally smart. I just hated studying and school in general, otherwise I could have definitely raised my 3.72 GPA. I lack the patience for gaining book smarts...unless it's something that I'm interested in.

[::brushes another ant off desk:: They're honestly taking over my room!][/color]

[nezzyjean]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by maladjusted [/i]
[B][size=1] :toothy: They say the smarter you are, the less common sense you have. [/size] [/B][/QUOTE]
[color=silver] [size=0] haha...u got that from ms. hancock! heh..well I can't decide...so i will give an argument for both options...heh..:toothy: kay...
Common Sense: You can be the smartest person in the world...but without common sense...you wouldnt be able to makie it in the world...you'd just do some odd stuff, ruin yiour conduct, and wind up not wanted by any colledges...either that or you'll end up ruining your life...the point is, without common sense, you'll always be missing the mark, and not being able to reach your goals.

Book Smarts: without booksmarts, you simply won't succeed in life. You'll do poor in school, and not get into colledges...but with just common sense, the only test you will ever pass is the lab safety test you take every year in middle school...but without booksmarts, you will not be very great to talk to, and would probably wind up with no friends...unless you always do the right thing...then maybe some ppl will be your friend, even though you;d be as interesting as a pet rock...[/color] [/size]

[Patronus]

[size=1][b]Booksmarts. You can't go anywhere good in this world without it, yet you can be ditzy and get through. You'll have a lot of blonde jokes following you, though.

Leh[/b][/size]

[Guest Crimson Spider]

Common sense. You see, knowing a whole lot isn't any good unless you know where to apply it to.

You see, I have a whole lot of booksmart. I know a lot about a lot. However, I am utterly clueless on many simple things that many people know. An example:

If I were a monkey and kepts the booksmart and common sense ration the same in my more primitive brain, I would be able to do many math problems, and know why stuff does stuff.

However, if they put me in a room with 2 blocks and a bannana hanging from the roof, I would not stack the blocks.

I would instead throw the blocks at the bananna trying to knock it down. After the bannana gets smashed from me smacking it with the blocks, I would remeber to throw the blocks more carefully next time.

Plenty of book smart. But without common sense, I will never get that bannana.

Also, Common sense will just get you farther in life. I have made many upon many mistakes that no-one else would, some potentially fatal, simply because everyone around me had enough common sense not to do that.

Also, when encountered with something that is not found in a book, such as the very complex world of women to men, people are often clueless and led around like a lost puppy.

The reason why I don't apply for a Collage sooner is simple: I don't know how! I can't seem to figure it out. It isn't in a book anywhere that I can find. So I am utterly clueless. I'm led around like a lost puppy and told what to do and have little choice on the matter.

I never figured out that I should just take the sheet, fill it out, then mail it until someone spelled it out for me.

Call me an idiot, but if you read many of my posts, I know a whole lot about a whole lot. But all that knowledge gets me nowhere because I can't put it to good use.

Simple things such as cooking, laundry, writing a check, cleaning up around me are considered common sense things. I do not have so much as the signs of a clue on how to do these things. And yet I can calculate the exact size of stars in the sky using a very complecated formula. It is imprinted in my memory. This useless formula is imprinted into my memory. I cannot forget it.

There is absolutely no way to prove that one person has more common sense than another. Just because you have less sense in that area, doesn't mean that you have less in others.

Unless the comparasin is rediculessly obvious, like me, than there is no way to tell.

[Semjaza]

They're both imporant. There are many situations where I need a combination of the two.

Some of the things mentioned so far don't strike me as common sense things whatsoever, honestly.

You obviously need common sense to get through many situations though. Especially those where you need to figure something out quickly. Booksmarts are useful in their own ways. While someone can get by with their common sense, I do think that booksmarts are really what helps you actually get anywhere in life.

So really a combination of the two. I don't think one is much more important than the other, but I'd say common sense is the better one to have.

[Drix D'Zanth]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Crimson Spider [/i]
[B]If I were a monkey and kepts the booksmart and common sense ration the same in my more primitive brain, I would be able to do many math problems, and know why stuff does stuff.

However, if they put me in a room with 2 blocks and a bannana hanging from the roof, I would not stack the blocks.

I would instead throw the blocks at the bananna trying to knock it down. After the bannana gets smashed from me smacking it with the blocks, I would remeber to throw the blocks more carefully next time.

Plenty of book smart. But without common sense, I will never get that bannana.
[/B][/QUOTE]

Thank god you aren't a monkey. To be honest, i think all monkey's would chuck something at the bannana, or try to climb. I'm no monkey expert here though. So I guess that makes all monkeys booksmart, cool.

I really don't think either of them are that valuable. There is an intrinsic difference in each person known as their intelligence quotient. Debate as you may, some people will always be smarter than others. Why, then is the world not dominated by the smart? Simple. Motivation is the key. Call me a chris farley's "motivational speaker" mockoff, but in all honesty it's motivation that truely defines how sucessful a person can be.

I lean more towards the book smart, I belive you learn plenty of common sense depending on how you study. There are books about common sense topics such as washing clothes, writing checks, or mixing martinis. Okay, maybe the last one was a bit off track, but you get my point.

Anyone with a great deal of common sense can apply his/herself to a goal, and fulfill their booksmart potential. It just takes time and dedication. It's fairly simple, yet it requires experience on both ends of the spectrum. I learned how to wash clothes, etc at a fairly young age, but found enough time to read and study as well.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Conna_da_fox [/i]
[B]I think commonsense is more importent. I mean you could have a lot of booksmart and not have commonsense and that will make you look kinda dumb.:P I have more commonsense than booksmart and i could know way more things than a kid without alot of commonsense. It's just commonsense to know that commonsense is more importent.[/B][/QUOTE]

Does anyone else see the profound amount of irony in this person's post?

Earlier someone described the two as being intertwined. This is all very very true.

I suppose I'll end with a quote: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." - F. Scott Fitzgerald. How profound for a forum... no?

[Guest Piro7]

Hmm.. tough one im gonna go with common sense. I personally dont claim either but I would asume it would be common sense.

[Baron Samedi]

Well. I refuse to choose, and you can't make me. so BLAH! Oh, OK you can hear my opinion :p Both are required one without the other is not enough for a successful future. If you only have one, then that is not enough to get ahead in life. One without the other is merley pointless. IN the end, for day-to-day monotony commonsense may be the most useful, but I still insist that only one is not enough.

[Harry]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by pbfrontmanvdp [/i]
[B]This question has always been running around in my head since my family and i are always so competitive. I had a 4.2 GPA while my brother has around a 3.4. He always says that he's more capable in having a more successful future. He backs it up by saying he has more commonsense, which i always disagree on(i believe i have more). Even if that is so, booksmarts is what usually gets a student into a good college. The university i go to is pretty well known and has a good reputation, while my bro might have to go to a community college (not that thats a bad thing, but compared to a university it's easy to get into). Meanwhile commonsense might have a factor in finding a job. Most of the time there are interviews when applying for a job, and most of them are verbal so this sort of aspect comes in handy. In most interviews you have to answer the questions usually without hesitation and try to sometimes be concise and to the point.

[/B][/QUOTE]
You'll find that unless you're going to an Ivy league school, a community college course is just as good as a average college course. He'll also be spending a lot less. Also a lot of jobs hire you not only on your little degree there, but on a lot of other things. Being sociable and friendly really helps in the workspace. On a side note, why would he have to go to community college if he only has a 3.4? That's an A-B average, nothing hideous. If he does have more common sense than you, he's probably the winner out of you two.

[Vegitto4]

I'd say you need both to survive in this world. A perfect mis. If you have more of one, then the other could confuse you alot.

[pbfrontmanvdp]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Harry [/i]
[B]You'll find that unless you're going to an Ivy league school, a community college course is just as good as a average college course. He'll also be spending a lot less. Also a lot of jobs hire you not only on your little degree there, but on a lot of other things. Being sociable and friendly really helps in the workspace. On a side note, why would he have to go to community college if he only has a 3.4? That's an A-B average, nothing hideous. If he does have more common sense than you, he's probably the winner out of you two. [/B][/QUOTE]

Trust me around where i live you need to have a high GPA and good SAT scores. My parents dont want either me or my brother to leave the state of NJ so were kinda limited here. Unless you have money and could afford the really expensive universities there out of the question as well. Therefor Ivy league schools were out of the question to begin with for my family. Anyway I barely even got into Rowan with a 4.2 GPA and a 1150 SAT score. They wanted an 1180 SAT score but when they saw my GPA, they took me in because of that. My bro...he isnt probably going to get into the college of his choice. Sure hes got a decent GPA, but his SAT scores suck. Hes only got a 1020 and most of the colleges were demanding more then that. I know its sad hes had a pretty good GPA this whole time but colleges are demanding more and more each and every year. He might get in because of swimming, but they still want him to have a better SAT score and GPA. Plus class rank has a factor as well. My GPA gave me class rank of 85 out of 511 students while my bros is around 300 out of 556 students. Thats one of the first things a college asks (or looks for in a transcript), so hes basically screwed there too.

As for community colleges being the same as Universities, thats somewhat understandable. Some of them are great like ive had to take a few summer course at a couple, but some of them were terrible as well. Its all just personal opinion.

I never said that jobs higher you on your little degree...i personally could care less where you get the degree from. If a company does higher someone strictly on their degree, then their absolutely insane. I know you have to look at the total package, you would be stupid not too. But come on, use some common sense, you cant tell me that people with a degree from a regular college/university is better and more helpful then a degree from an Ivy league university. Trust me, that little degree does play an important factor.

[lea]

well, in a perfect world, an equall amount of both would be good...
but, since it isnt a perfect world, it really depneds on what you want to do with your life. if you want to be a rocket scientist, maybe booksmart is going good for you. if you want to be a bussiness manager, well, streetsmarts will go well with you.
too bad people cant pick what they want ^^;