Argumentative Essay_AP English Language 5

“Just because.” This is the usual answer for questions such as “Why do we call desks ‘desks’?” or “Why is it wrong to cheat during tests?” Like this, there are many facts that people hardly put any effort into to find reasons for them. Those are what we call common sense. Common sense is mostly trusted because it is the “promise” of the public or the result of accumulated observations and findings.

           According to a story I read in my childhood, there was a man who had questions about names of objects. He wanted to find reasons why people call things as they are. Since he couldn’t find convincing answers, he renamed things; he called ‘books’ as ‘clocks’ and ‘houses’ as ‘animals’. So, he became impossible to communicate with and finally was isolated from the rest of the world. Common sense derives from as agreement among the public. If people question it, have dissatisfaction with it, and try to challenge it, it is going against the rules and directions of the world. Thus, common sense should undoubtedly be accepted and practiced.

           Even a five year old child knows that the Earth is round-it is “common sense.” We call such common sense ‘scientific facts.’ Scientists from the ancient times have noticed that the shadow of the earth on the moon was round. Back then, it was generally known that the earth was flat, so people avoided traveling far in fear of falling from the ground. However, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, observed that ship comes out from its bow when it approaches and proved that the Earth was round through an around-the-world trip. In addition, several astronomical observations were made to support the theory. The cumulative researches and studies made today’s scientific facts which are also called as common sense. Therefore, common sense should be adopted and embraced because they are academically proven knowledge.

           Common sense should be acknowledged as admitted facts in the society and universal truths identified by scientific evidence. The case of a man who had communication problems due to renaming things by his own taste and the story of how it was proved that the earth was round validate the stance, showing how common sense is defined. Questioning common sense, indeed, is not a common sense.