I have long opined that what masquerades as common sense is often common ignorance. Too often we hold opinions backed by our beliefs, rather than well-tested evidence.
Why? Testing your beliefs against reality is hard. It's emotionally challenging, and more often than not it requires tools and techniques beyond our ken, if not our pocketbooks.
John Howard ("The death of common sense," guest commentary, June 14) is right that understanding each other is a first step in overcoming this challenge. Equally important is understanding that just because I think it's true, if I can't show it to be true with evidence, I shouldn't expect others to agree with my opinion.