While I’m on the subject of exchanging word meanings, I’d like to bring up the subject of common sense. There was a time when I believed that there was no such thing as common sense. If so-called “common sense” was so common then why do intelligent people forget common sense so often?

I read something today that made me think, maybe the better word for common sense, especially when used in political debate, would be groupthink. Think about it: when a politician promises voters that he’ll come up with “common sense solutions,” he’s really saying that he’s going to come up with ideas that he does not expect you to criticize. They’re common sense ideas, so how could any sane person argue with them? Neener neener.

I’m going to take a moment to quote a book I’m reading right now. This part lists the symptoms of groupthink:

Signs of Overconfidence

Illusion of invulnerability. Members are overly optimistic and prone to take extraordinary risks.

Belief in the inherent morality of the group. Participants ignore the ethical consequences of their actions and decisions.

Signs of Closed-Mindedness

Collective rationalization. Group members invent rationalizations to protect themselves from any feedback that would challenge their operating assumptions.

Stereotypes of outside groups. Participants underestimate the capabilities of other groups (armies, citizens, teams); they think that people in these groups are weak or stupid.

Signs of Group Pressure

Pressure on dissenters. Group members coerce dissenters to go along with the prevailing opinion in the group.

Self-censorship. Individuals keep their doubts about group decisions to themselves.

Illusion of unanimity. Because members keep quiet, the group mistakenly assumes that everyone agrees on a course of action.

Self-appointed mind guards. Certain members take it on themselves to protect the leader and others from dissenting opinions that might disrupt the group’s consensus.

My question to you is, how much of this sounds familiar in light of the patriots wishing the dissenters would shut-up?