Seems Right but Wrong

by: Shahir Nazri

Some situations, no matter how truthful they appear, still have their flaws.

A)  When somebody did a survey on how many books have you been reading and instruct you to not include any textbooks related to your study.

Why do they demand so? Because usually any academic textbooks are read when people need to pass exams (or not repeating semester), so they are forced to read them rather than willingly read them.

Why is it wrong to ask so?

1. Reading something you are forced to read are much more agonizing than reading something you are willing to read.

2. Not everyone read something related to their study because they felt obligatory to do so. There are people who read because they are passionate about the subject they are studying.

3. For those who demand so, have you ever tried reading textbooks? Seriously, have you ever? I’m not talking about those simple 100-page-of-so-called-textbooks (which in reality are notebooks written by your professors), but the real-deal 500-page +++ textbook with font-size <10, heavily-worded and scattered with diagrams that are even harder to understand than the words. Give it a try, then perhaps you’ll understand why the sentence “… not including the textbooks related to your study…” are total nonsense.

"Why bother? It's not like the stuff I'm reading right now really matters, right?"

B) When people say “there are simpler ways to succeed in something”

Why do they say so? To motivate others towards success.

Why is it wrong to say so?

1. Ever heard of a saying “we are what we repeatedly do, excellence then, is not an act but a habit”. You want success, start acting like a successful people.

2. There are others who are hardworking enough, but they barely succeed. And you think you can go further by doing less than these people? Shame on you!

3. You may do less, and succeed due to some dumb luck. But dumb luck only comes once or twice. Sooner or later you’ll have to depend on yourselves when you ran out of luck.

4. Even the simplest proposed methods towards success require perseverance. And perseverance, my friend, is never simple.

But perhaps this is better than the next one:

C) When people say “success in exam does not count in the future”

Why do they say so? To motivate those who fail to never give up.

Why is it wrong to say so?

1. Seriously, why must you demotivate those who work hard to succeed in exam?

Smith will never smile if he knows that he will later become a janitor at the same college he graduated from

2. It is true that results does not matter. But nobody can deny that people who succeed because they have the best attitude are much better than people who fail because they are lazy.

3. Yes, there are multiple stories about successful person who failed a lot in their academic years. But even in their failure, they have clear plans towards a greater goal. If your greater goal requires you to succeed in exams, then success in exams do count for your future.

... and later he added "Nah... Just Kidding! LOL" 

D) When people regularly use the phrase “use your common sense” to their favour.

Why do they say so? To stop people from annoying them.

Why is it sometimes wrong to say so?

1. Seriously, is it “use your common sense” or “use my common sense”? Sometimes, “common sense” is not so common. Proof? People who told others to “use their common sense” may sometimes be told by others to “use his common sense”. If “common sense” is so common, why should one be reminded to “use their common sense”?

Different view of "common sense"

2. Sometimes, “use your common sense” are better translated as “I don’t like what you did, so please don’t do it in front of me, even though you are pleased to do so”. Well, if you don’t like something, better tell them so and insert your reasons along, rather than saying “use your common sense”, because the one who heard it may translate it as “you are such an insensible, heartless bastard who have no concern of others at all”.

Now that's an accurate "common sense" showmanship

If you really need to use the “common sense” argument, please make sure that it is really a “common” sense.

Conflict of Interest: I hereby declared that I have no conflict of interest (except for my interest in writing some nonsense, perhaps). This so-called writing reflects some of the my opinions, and as any other opinions, they stand in the grey area of uncertainty.