Balance Quote by Marvin Minsky
“Common sense is not a simple thing. Instead, it is an immense society of hard-earned practical ideas - of multitudes of life-learned rules and exceptions, dispositions and tendencies, balances and checks.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Society of Mind (1986) – cognitive science
Common sense comprises a vast network of practical rules, exceptions, and balances learned from life experience.
In simple terms: Common sense is a complex web of life lessons.
Key Takeaway
Cultivate and refine practical knowledge.
Themes
cognition
learning
practical wisdom
Mood
analytical
curious
Type
philosophical
educational
When to use this quote
- decision making
- problem solving
- everyday interactions
Key Concepts
rules
exceptions
balances
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you test your common‑sense assumptions?
- When should you challenge ingrained rules?
A Different Perspective
Relying on common sense can overlook novel solutions.
![“A couple of hundred years from now, maybe [science fiction writers] Isaac Asimov and Fred Pohl will be considered the important philosophers of the twentieth century, and the professional philosophers will almost all be forgotten, because they're just shallow and wrong, and their ideas aren't very…” quote by Marvin Minsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6f9/marvin-minsky-7760_century_a-couple-of-hundred-years-from-now-maybe_286808.jpg)
