"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen"

Albert Einstein’s words invite a critical reflection on a concept that people often valorize as an unassailable guide to truth and decision-making: common sense. Far from being a universal, objective faculty, common sense is portrayed as a product of social conditioning and accumulated biases, rather than pure reason. It is formed through a lifetime, by the arbitrarily drawn line of age eighteen, of absorbing cultural norms, prevailing attitudes, and unquestioned assumptions from family, education, media, and society at large. What is so widely called common sense often functions less as a tool for genuine understanding and more as a shorthand for inherited opinions and ready-made solutions.

This insight strips away the veneer of authority that common sense tends to possess. If it represents a “collection of prejudices,” then judgments and intuitions that feel self-evident may actually be unexamined beliefs internalized during our formative years. Prejudices in this context are not merely negative biases, but all forms of pre-judgments, including cultural standards, stereotypes, social rules, and the automatic preferences or aversions that shape our everyday thinking. Thus, appeals to common sense often mask a lack of critical scrutiny, or even encourage intellectual laziness, dismissing alternative views that fall outside the conventional wisdom.

Einstein’s perspective urges a more skeptical approach toward intuition and tradition. Ideas and practices inherited uncritically can become obstacles to progress or understanding, as they resist innovation and openness to the unfamiliar. Greater wisdom lies in recognizing that what seems obvious or “sensible” is frequently the product of habit, indoctrination, or narrow experience. Growth and creativity demand moving beyond these acquired prejudices, questioning assumptions, and striving for intellectual humility. By recognizing the limits of common sense, individuals can cultivate a more thoughtful, open-minded, and dynamic approach to knowledge, one that seeks to transcend mere accumulation of prejudice and aims instead for genuine insight.