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Mental Efficiency Series #5
Common Sense, How to Exercise It
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1916
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123 people want to read
About the author
Yoritomo-Tashi
37 books6 followersYoritomo-Tashi was a philosopher, well known and admired by his people and one of the greatest statesmen that Japan has ever had. Yoritomo-Tashi worked as a senior official for the state and wrote extensively on philopsophical subjects. The three great pillars of his teachings were reflected in his trio of books:
Common Sense: How to Exercise it
Influence-How to Exert it
Timidity-How to Overcome it
Common Sense: How to Exercise it
Influence-How to Exert it
Timidity-How to Overcome it
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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February 3, 2021Just so you know, "Yoritomo-Tashi" is a made-up persona. He never existed; he was invented by the "translator" of early 20th century France(?) (who probably made lots of money by this scheme).
You can pretty much tell. While the bio on GR says he was a famous statesman/philosopher, there is no substantial info such as when he was born/died, what he did as a statesman, etc. No wiki. No info in Japanese. Sometimes it shows the picture of Tokugawa Ieyoshi (12th Tokugawa shogun).
I haven't read Yoritomo-Tashi's books. I just want to make it clear that, whatever it says, good or bad, it has nothing to do with the Japanese.
You can pretty much tell. While the bio on GR says he was a famous statesman/philosopher, there is no substantial info such as when he was born/died, what he did as a statesman, etc. No wiki. No info in Japanese. Sometimes it shows the picture of Tokugawa Ieyoshi (12th Tokugawa shogun).
I haven't read Yoritomo-Tashi's books. I just want to make it clear that, whatever it says, good or bad, it has nothing to do with the Japanese.
July 17, 2021
I rate books this old with 5 stars almost by default, unless there's something really really wrong with them. There's nothing wrong with this book, the views I saw here are very compatible with modern thought.
Disclaimer: I am not sure if this is the exact book I "read". I listened to this librivox audiobook: https://librivox.org/common-sense-how...
The audiobook mentions a lot of things that surely the author couldn't have written, such as some references to modern day business people.
Things that stuck with me:
* The author acknowledges cultural relativism. Having written this book sometime during the 12th century, he was aware of other cultures. He was aware of the Romans, and how certain customs of the romans would not be appropriate if performed in the Japanese society, and vice-versa.
* The author has analysed human nature to a great extent. As such he lists and distinguishes between a lot of terms. I forgot the terms and their definition, but a lot of them have to do with thinking. I imagine this could be a real example from the book (but as said, I forgot the terms used, so I'm making stuff up): Rationality, Will power, Penetration (this one's from the book), Understanding, Knowledge, Memory. The terms in the book seemed like they could have a lot of overlap.
* Practical sense - the author distinguishes this "relative" of common sense, declaring it good enough in most situations, and good enough for most people. What makes practical sense different from common sense, as I understand he sees things, is that common sense can also be used in situations which one is vastly unfamiliar with. Practical sense can server only in day-to-day situations. For instance, in science, one wouldn't be able to use practical sense, because basically all the things studied by science at this point are extremely far removed from our intuitions (example: atoms, galaxies).
* The author acknowledges that there are people who won't be able to acquire common sense, and therefore would benefit only from practical sense. He perceives some people as having a great need for certainty, even at the price of truth. Some people fear uncertainty so badly, that they prefer to be told lies than the truth, and it is these people that require superstitions. This is very much in tune with a saying from Confucius: "With people above the common, you must speak of things above the common. With people below the common, you MUST NOT speak of things above the common".
* The author comes up with a lot of examples of situations where people acted irrational. In those days, people believed in sorcery and gods a lot more than today. Some people took this to the extreme, as to not try too much to consider the impact of their own options, and just consider the gods responsible for everything. For instance, there was this young man who put a large sum of money in a bag which later tore open, making him lose the money which he worked a lot to get. The author showed him that the gods didn't have anything to do with him losing the money, and he should have instead inspected the bag, to see it was in a really bad shape.
* A whole chapter is dedicated to "Sentimentality". The author considers it as something bad, if taken to the extreme. The Japanese society seems to have had this trait whereby people were supposed to acknowledge, show and respect other people's emotions. That's not necessarily bad, and can be quite good at times, but the author focused on "common sense" being a guiding principle as to when to be more or less "sentimental". For instance, he talked about a famine, and a landlord neglecting his people, many of which subsequently died. After the famine was over, he made an appeal to his feelings, as an excuse for why he didn't help more. The author said this was bad.
* My personal take on this: There's very little difference between the thoughts of Yoritomo Tashi, and those of modern supporters of rational thinking (scientists etc.). What's very nice about what the author did, is the fact that he manages to convey ideas using very nice allegories (little stories), which one can remember easily. I'm not sure if this is a trait of asian thought, or it it's just this author, but I did see more allegories than usual when reading asian writings.
I totally recommend this book, to anyone interested in other cultures. I will recommend this to adolescents as well. Sure, the real world is more complicated than what one can get from this book, but this is a very good place to start if one wants to take rational thinking seriously.
Disclaimer: I am not sure if this is the exact book I "read". I listened to this librivox audiobook: https://librivox.org/common-sense-how...
The audiobook mentions a lot of things that surely the author couldn't have written, such as some references to modern day business people.
Things that stuck with me:
* The author acknowledges cultural relativism. Having written this book sometime during the 12th century, he was aware of other cultures. He was aware of the Romans, and how certain customs of the romans would not be appropriate if performed in the Japanese society, and vice-versa.
* The author has analysed human nature to a great extent. As such he lists and distinguishes between a lot of terms. I forgot the terms and their definition, but a lot of them have to do with thinking. I imagine this could be a real example from the book (but as said, I forgot the terms used, so I'm making stuff up): Rationality, Will power, Penetration (this one's from the book), Understanding, Knowledge, Memory. The terms in the book seemed like they could have a lot of overlap.
* Practical sense - the author distinguishes this "relative" of common sense, declaring it good enough in most situations, and good enough for most people. What makes practical sense different from common sense, as I understand he sees things, is that common sense can also be used in situations which one is vastly unfamiliar with. Practical sense can server only in day-to-day situations. For instance, in science, one wouldn't be able to use practical sense, because basically all the things studied by science at this point are extremely far removed from our intuitions (example: atoms, galaxies).
* The author acknowledges that there are people who won't be able to acquire common sense, and therefore would benefit only from practical sense. He perceives some people as having a great need for certainty, even at the price of truth. Some people fear uncertainty so badly, that they prefer to be told lies than the truth, and it is these people that require superstitions. This is very much in tune with a saying from Confucius: "With people above the common, you must speak of things above the common. With people below the common, you MUST NOT speak of things above the common".
* The author comes up with a lot of examples of situations where people acted irrational. In those days, people believed in sorcery and gods a lot more than today. Some people took this to the extreme, as to not try too much to consider the impact of their own options, and just consider the gods responsible for everything. For instance, there was this young man who put a large sum of money in a bag which later tore open, making him lose the money which he worked a lot to get. The author showed him that the gods didn't have anything to do with him losing the money, and he should have instead inspected the bag, to see it was in a really bad shape.
* A whole chapter is dedicated to "Sentimentality". The author considers it as something bad, if taken to the extreme. The Japanese society seems to have had this trait whereby people were supposed to acknowledge, show and respect other people's emotions. That's not necessarily bad, and can be quite good at times, but the author focused on "common sense" being a guiding principle as to when to be more or less "sentimental". For instance, he talked about a famine, and a landlord neglecting his people, many of which subsequently died. After the famine was over, he made an appeal to his feelings, as an excuse for why he didn't help more. The author said this was bad.
* My personal take on this: There's very little difference between the thoughts of Yoritomo Tashi, and those of modern supporters of rational thinking (scientists etc.). What's very nice about what the author did, is the fact that he manages to convey ideas using very nice allegories (little stories), which one can remember easily. I'm not sure if this is a trait of asian thought, or it it's just this author, but I did see more allegories than usual when reading asian writings.
I totally recommend this book, to anyone interested in other cultures. I will recommend this to adolescents as well. Sure, the real world is more complicated than what one can get from this book, but this is a very good place to start if one wants to take rational thinking seriously.
April 15, 2023
I very much enjoyed reading informative this book on Common Sense. A few of my favorite passages are as follows by Yoritomo-Tashi:
🟣 Media format Kindle version.
“Those, who see things through the medium of enthusiasm refuse to recognize that they could be deprived of brilliancy and beauty. The others, those who look upon things from a pessimistic standpoint, never find anything in them save pretexts for pouring out to their hearers tales of woe and misery.”
"We may all possess wisdom if we are willing to be persuaded that the experience of others is as useful as our own."
🟣 Media format Kindle version.
July 10, 2016
A veces no tenemos respuestas para ciertos interrogantes acerca de cómo tomar la mejor decisión o cómo reaccionar frente a ciertas circunstancias, éste libro te ayudará a encontrar esas respuestas, ayudará en cada aspecto de tu vida, una guía de cómo lograr desarrollar el sentido común y obtener a través de este múltiples beneficios. Un maravillosa lectura.
July 16, 2020
3.5 stars (liked it)
Timeless advice from a 12th-Century Japanese philosopher.
Timeless advice from a 12th-Century Japanese philosopher.
December 4, 2023
There is a feeling that the author was speaking directly to reader and instructing him on the application of common sense. His instruction was a gentle scold, like that from a wise and loving grandparent who tells his grandson “think before you act and it will save you much trouble”
He touches on many ideas and argues why common sense is a worthy companion through life, such as logic vs irrationality. Being overly skeptical or optimistic. The dangers of sentimentality. and my favorite idea he covered was the perils of confusing impulse with intuition.
This book is certainly worth the read. It is quite short, but can be revisited from time to time to remind one of the importance of exercising common sense in our everyday decisions.
He touches on many ideas and argues why common sense is a worthy companion through life, such as logic vs irrationality. Being overly skeptical or optimistic. The dangers of sentimentality. and my favorite idea he covered was the perils of confusing impulse with intuition.
This book is certainly worth the read. It is quite short, but can be revisited from time to time to remind one of the importance of exercising common sense in our everyday decisions.
April 25, 2016
De nuevo aqui opinando, este libro explica muy bien el comportamiento de la mente frente a experiencias de la vida, para mi este libro debería de ser un libro de consulta.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews