If you have an interest in improving your thinking and in making better choices then have a look at The Bumper Book of Common Sense by David G Croucher available from Amazon. It contains over 3,000 statements of Common Sense. Find below the contents list.
INTRODUCTION
OBSERVATIONS RELATING TO COMMON SENSE
THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF COMMON SENSE
COMMON SENSE THINKING
TRUTH AND BELIEF
Nothing is Certain
Some Truths are More Reasonable than Others
We Should Continually be Looking to Improve what we Believe to be Reality
Faith and Belief
Living without Absolute Truths
SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND RULES
The Origins, Limitations, and Usefulness of Scientific Laws and Rules
Useful Scientific Laws, Rules, and Principles
(LOGICAL) ARGUMENTS
Valid and Reasonable Arguments
The Form, Validity, and Use of Deductive Arguments
Getting to the Bottom of Arguments
USE OF LANGUAGE
Assumptions and Definitions
Inappropriate Use of Words or Expressions
Use of Generalizations, Simplifications, Analogies, and Metaphors
Fuzziness
CLEAR THINKING
Principles of Clear Thinking
Cause and Effect
Barriers to Clear Thinking
Inappropriate Ways of Thinking
Improving Your Clear Thinking Skills
FALLACIES
About Fallacies
Examples of Fallacies
BIASES
UNCERTAINTY
Certainty and Uncertainty
Probability and Statistics
Catastrophe and Chaos
Predicting, Foresight and Hindsight
SYSTEMS AND SYSTEMS THINKING
Complex Systems
Systems Thinking
COMMON SENSE INTERACTING WITH OTHERS
THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONS
General Observations about Emotions
You and Your Emotions
Interacting with Others who are in a Heightened Emotional State
GROUPS
Belonging to Groups
Behavior and Behaving in Groups
Conflicts between Groups
Groupthink
PEOPLE: THE WAY THEY ARE AND THE WAY THEY THINK
How People See and Respond to the World and to Other People
People are Not Good at Seeing their Own Shortcomings
A Propensity for Passivity
Differences Between People
Prejudice and Stereotyping
What Motivates People
The Influence of Status
Self-Interest or Vested-Interest Behavior
Observations about People
How you Potentially Appear to Others
How We See the World and Others
HOW YOU SHOULD TREAT AND INTERACT WITH OTHERS
Treat Others as Equals
Recognize and Respect Differences
Be Positive Towards Others
Helping Others
Be Honest and Fair in Your Dealings with Others
Give People the Benefit of the Doubt, but Don’t Let Them Take Advantage of You
Co-operation, Competition, and Conflict
Take an Interest in and Get to Know Others
Asking Others for Help and Advice
Don’t be too Concerned about What Other People Think about You
Verbal Arguments and Debate
Responding to Negativity or Put Downs
Interacting with Difficult, Awkward, or Dishonest People
Ways of Seeing Others
COMMON SENSE IN CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS
In General
Relationships between Husband and Wife or Equivalent Partners
Relationships between Parents and Children
Relationships with Teenagers
Relationships within Families in General
Relationships with Close Friends
Having and Looking After Pets
INFLUENCING AND PERSUADING
In General
Salesmen’s Tactics
Use of Power
Psychological and Physiological Factors
Influencing Tendencies
Peer Influences
Responding to Authority
Scarcity and Censorship
SMALL TALK AND CONVERSING
Why Small Talk?
Meeting New People
Topics to Raise or Not to Raise During Small Talk
Interacting During Small Talk and Conversations
Preparation for Small Talk
Improving your Small Talk and Dealing with Small Talk Failures
MORALITY AND BEING A GOOD PERSON
What is Moral Behavior?
We Choose our Own Morality
How to Increase your Morality
Benefits of Striving to be a Good Person
Some General Observations Relating to Morals
COMMON SENSE PLANNING AND DOING
GOALS AND OBJECTIVE SETTING
Why set Goals?
Set Inspiring and Challenging Long Term Goals?
Goals for Everyday Living
Going from Long Term Goals to Short Term Goals
General Characteristics of Good Goals (Long and Short Term)
Regularly Monitor Progress Towards your Goals, and Adjust Accordingly
PLANNING AND MONITORING
Why you Need Plans
The Basics of Producing a Plan
Estimating How Long
Be Clear about Dependencies
Confirm Feasibility
Modify or Deviate from your Plans if Necessary
Implementation and Monitoring
TIME MANAGEMENT AND GETTING THINGS DONE
The Importance of Time Management
Making Best Use of your Time
Short Term vs Long Term
Don’t Waste Time
Be Effective and Efficient in Doing Tasks
Take Relaxation Time
Get it all Down onto Lists
Prioritizing and Doing what’s Important
Planning to Do Things
What to Do Next
Review Progress
If you’re Failing to Make Progress, do Something About it
Focusing and Environment
Be Positive and Persistent
Multitasking
Overcoming Procrastination
Increasing your Ability to Control or React to Events
Effective Management of your Time when Interacting with Others
Getting On With It Aphorisms
WORKING WITH OTHERS
Try to See Things from Other’s Point of View
Deciding Whether to Work Alone or With Others
Gaining Other People’s Support and Input
Providing Support to Others
Effective Working Within a Group
Negotiating
DECISION MAKING
The Approach to Making Big Decisions
Personal Decisions
The Timing of Decisions
Judging Decisions
Overturning Decisions
General Considerations when Decision Making
PROBLEM SOLVING
What to do When Initially Faced with a Possible Problem
Ensure you Understand the Problem
General Approaches to Problem Solving
Looking for Possible Solutions
Assessing Possible Solutions
Once we Have a Solution
Solving Logical and Lateral Thinking Puzzles
ANALYSIS
Creating and Using Mental Models
Correlation
Lazy Thinking
Conducting Analysis Activities
Perception and Focus
Sorting Through Information
The Devil in the Detail
Outputs from Analysis Activities
MISTAKES, THEIR CAUSES, AND MITIGATING AGAINST THEM
COMMON SENSE LIVING
BEING ALIVE AND ATTITUDE OF MIND
Live your Life in the Present
Today is the Day
Do the Right Thing Right Now
Be Positive, Happy, Optimistic, and Appreciative of what you have
Be Proactive
Do what you Believe is Right
Face up to Your Fears
Do the Best You Can in the Circumstances
Take Control of Your Own Mind and Thoughts
Don’t just React, Think
Work Hard and Overcome Adversities
Life isn’t Always Fair; Accept It and Move On
Accept and Embrace Change
Continual Self-Development and Improvement
Life is What you Make Of It
Live your Life with Purpose
Play to your Strengths
Sometimes Do Nothing
Daily Living
SELF-TALK
Why Self-Talk is Important?
What to Say to Yourself
The Importance of Positive Self-Talk
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOR
We are able to Modify our Characteristics and Behavior
Always be Looking to Improve
Understand Yourself
Be Curious and Open Minded
Be Aware of your Surroundings and Circumstances
Be Positive and Confident and Appreciative of Being Alive
Relating to Others
SELF-MOTIVATION (AKA WILLPOWER)
What is Self-Motivation?
Why you should Look to Improve your Self-Motivation
Self-Motivation is Like a Muscle
Manage and Take Account of your Energy Levels
Have and use Inspiring Goals
Take Inspiration from Others
Self-Motivation is your own Responsibility
Get into the Right Mindset
The Use of Visualization
Learn to Take Control of your Now
Making Changes
Overcoming Temptation and Bad Habits
Understanding and Tackling Addiction
Implementing Good Habits
Keep Getting Back Up
General Self-Motivation Tips
DEALING WITH STRESS AND WORRIES
Dealing with Trauma or Despair
Recognizing and Managing Depression and Stress
Learn from Mistakes and Failures and Put Them Behind You
When Feeling a Bit Down
Take Responsibility for Dealing with your Unhappiness, Worries or Problems
Turning Problems and Worries Round
MEMORY
Memory Tends to be Meaning Focused
Make Associations and Patterns
Write it Down
Pay Attention
Memories can be False or Mislead
Impact of Health and Way of Life on Memory
Some Everyday Memory Tips
Some Observations Relating to Memory
Memory Training Tips
COMMUNICATION
Face to Face Communication and Listening
Body Language
Presentations and Public Speaking
Meetings – When you’re Responsible for Them or Leading/Chairing Them
Meetings – As an Attendee
Meetings – Other General Points
Written Communication Including E-mail for Business
Use of Different Forms of Communication
General Effective Communication Tips
Potential for Miscommunication
CREATIVITY
General Observations about Creativity
Sources of Creative Ideas
How to Boost your Creativity
Brainstorming
Ways of Encouraging or Discouraging Creative Thinking
GETTING AND BEING ORGANIZED
Being Organized Sets you Free
How to Get and Stay Organized
Organize Your Workspace(s)
Make Extensive Use of Written Reminders
Always have Pen and Paper with you
Manage your Finances
Maintain your own Personal and Professional Portfolios
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Learning is Good for You
Never Stop Learning
Learning is your Own Responsibility
Most People can Learn Most Things
Learning Styles
What to Learn
Attitude of Mind Towards Learning
How to Learn Tips
Effective Reading
Obstacles to Effective Learning
Tips for Exams
Teaching
FITNESS, DIET, HEALTH, AND SOME NOTES ABOUT HOW YOUR BRAIN WORKS
General Health
Diet and Eating
Exercise and Breathing
Sleep
Meditation and Relaxation Techniques
Body Posture
Your Voice
Dealing with Pain
How your Brain Works
COMMON SENSE WORKING FOR A LIVING
Take Responsibility for Enjoying and Finding Meaning in your Work
Take Control over your Work and Responsibility for Getting the Right Things Done
Boosting your Employability
Be Professional in How you Behave
Work Life Balance
COMMON SENSE LIVING ON YOUR OWN
COMMON SENSE RELATING TO GETTING OLDER
COMMON SENSE SURVIVAL TIPS
DAILY LIVING ADAGES AND APHORISMS
GENERAL
Some Well-known Principles, Laws, and Razors
Relating to Experience
Taking Advice
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR COMMON SENSE
COMMON SENSE ON A GLOBAL SCALE
FURTHER READING