I finished writing another chapter yesterday, and I thought that I'd post the introduction to it on here. The chapter is titled Try Easier:

        The message on the billboard caught my eye: Nothing Is as Uncommon as Common Sense. Driving at 65 miles per hour, I didn't notice if the statement was attributed to anyone, but I recognized the truth in the saying. So, just what is common sense? Merriam Webster defines it as: "Sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Albert Einstein had a more jaded view: "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

        Back when I was taking a Psychology course in college, I read of an experiment conducted with a group of student volunteers. There've been countless experiments with mice in mazes, trying to better understand problem solving. This time, they used students. Instead of using a maze, they constructed a large round room with many doors. A student was lead into the center of the room, and then the door through which they came in was locked. Only one door in
the room was unlocked. Then, an electrical current was passed through the floor, creating a mild, but uncomfortable shock. The student had to discover which door was unlocked in order to escape the room. The first reaction to the shock was for the subject was to run to the nearest door and try to open it. When they found that it was locked, they'd race to another door. Sometimes, after trying a door only to find it locked, the student would race to the center of the room, then turn around and try the same door again. I think that the mice probably did better.

        Sometimes we try too hard.

I guess that the reason why that experiment resonates so powerfully in my mind is because it's so "me." I can't count the times that I've frantically tried, and tried again to make something work that had no chance of working. There are a lot of reasons for that, but I bet someone else sitting here around the kitchen table can relate to it.

Jerry