Common sense Quote by Daniel Waterman
““When interpreted as infallible, the truth claims of powerful institutions — whether religious or secular — tend to emphasise the fallibility of individuals and their subjective ethical intuitions; thus, undermining self-reliance, including people’s ability to make use of information they intuitively know is basically correct, based on their own experiences or simply common sense.””
About This Quote
Treating institutional truth as infallible erodes personal judgment and reliance on common sense, weakening self‑reliance.
In simple terms: Blind trust in institutions harms personal judgment.
Key Takeaway
Question authority and trust your own experience.
Themes
authority
truth
self‑reliance
critical thinking
intuition
Mood
skeptical
reflective
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- media consumption
- workplace decisions
- personal ethics
- education
- policy analysis
Key Concepts
epistemology
psychology
social influence
Questions to Reflect On
- What evidence supports your intuition?
- How can you verify institutional claims?
A Different Perspective
Institutions can also provide valuable expertise.
![“With drug use related harms, explanatory models are often presented as predictive tools, even though they ‘are [rarely if ever] predictive of consequent behavior’ or outcomes. Hence, we feel confident in asserting at outset, that prohibition based approaches in drug policy lack a sound basis in…” quote by Daniel Waterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e7b/daniel-waterman-25499_belief_with-drug-use-related-harms-explanatory_303076.jpg)
