[kka25]

Are these 3 terms synonymous to each other in anyway?

I was asking this to a researcher whether I could use "common sense" or "common knowledge" in the findings of a research presentation or academic debates, but she argued that it's not advisable to use it but it wasn't clear why it shouldn't.

For example; "It's common knowledge to some people that mathematics is hard".

Would it be similar to; "It's a fact that some people find mathematics hard".

Any input is appreciated

[Rhiannon:)]

"It's common knowledge to some people that mathematics is hard" seems slightly condradictory, as 'common knowledge' implies EVERYONE knowing rather than just 'some people'.

To me, fact and common knowledge are very different things. Because human knowledge is imperfect, it suggests 'something that lots of people think' more than 'something that is right. Equally, fact can be proved wrong, but it is generally considered much more reliable. I would consider 'fact' to be something that specifically can be proven.

Common sense is more judgement based, and I think this can be quite misleading as so often common sense ISN'T common. Although when i hear 'common sense' I do think 'something that I should know', and even if my own views disagree with it I'm inclined to take 'common sense' more seriously. So it's quite effective in this respect.

[kka25]

(Original post by Rhiannon:))
"It's common knowledge to some people that mathematics is hard" seems slightly condradictory, as 'common knowledge' implies EVERYONE knowing rather than just 'some people'.

To me, fact and common knowledge are very different things. Because human knowledge is imperfect, it suggests 'something that lots of people think' more than 'something that is right. Equally, fact can be proved wrong, but it is generally considered much more reliable. I would consider 'fact' to be something that specifically can be proven.

Common sense is more judgement based, and I think this can be quite misleading as so often common sense ISN'T common. Although when i hear 'common sense' I do think 'something that I should know', and even if my own views disagree with it I'm inclined to take 'common sense' more seriously. So it's quite effective in this respect.

Hurm... well these 'some people' can be educated people and not everyone knows that '<something> is hard', and no, common knowledge does not mean everyone knows it because who is everyone? babies? one year old boy? people suffering from cognitive processing illness?

Well 'fact' is man made as you should have known by now so it's also under the umbrella of 'something that lots of people think'.

I'm sorry I don't understand your third point. Fact is also 'judgement based' if we consider the argument that fact is man made. Some people would say that salt is not good for you and it promotes high BP and we could have a good belief in this because there's scientific evidence to support it, but others might say the evidence is flawed since it's used in rats and rats are not humans.

[K the Failure]

My own definitions of the top of my head:

Fact: Whatever the scientific method demonstrates to be 'true enough'. E.g. the Sun is a star.

Common sense: Useful rules of thumb that has practical applications. E.g. Running with scissors can injure somebody.

Common knowledge: Knowledge that is common to the majority of people regardless of the validity of the knowledge. E.g. Pluto is not a planet.

They're not 3 distinct categories and in my opinion all three can overlap to varying degrees.