Why Common Sense Isn't Common

Common Sense or Power Move? The One Question That Reveals the Difference Host Leslie Poston argues that “common sense” is often used to end conversations and universalize one person’s perception rather than provide evidence. She explains this through naïve realism (people experience their perceptions as objective reality), embodied cognition (gut intuitions shaped by bodily and lived experience), and positionality (social location shapes what becomes perceptually salient). She cites the “WEIRD” problem in psychology showing many supposedly universal findings don’t generalize across cultures, and connects “common sense” to Gramsci’s hegemony, where dominant-group assumptions become normalized as natural and inevitable. Without endorsing relativism, she notes motivated reasoning can make conclusions feel obvious before scrutiny. She closes with a practical test for sussing out “common sense” claims. 00:00 Common Sense Setup 02:04 Obvious as Default 03:27 Naive Realism Lens 06:17 Embodied Intuition 08:28 Positional Blind Spots 10:04 WEIRD Not Universal 14:08 Common Sense as Power 17:16 Not Relativism 18:03 Motivated Reasoning 20:10 One Key Question 21:13 Practical Takeaways 23:56 Closing and Next Week PsyberSpace: Understand Your World Episode 11, Season 3 March 16, 2026 ★ Episode details: https://share.transistor.fm/s/9fd935e8 ★ Additional episodes: https://psyberspace.com