Common Sense Isn’t: The Myth of Easy Answers and Their Use in Controlling Political Narrative

This paper argues that contemporary appeals to “common sense” function less as shared wisdom than as a rhetorical technology of simplification—easy answers masquerading as obvious truth. Drawing on political theory, populism studies, and complexity theory, it shows how such appeals bypass evidence, suppress uncertainty, and misrepresent the dynamics of complex social systems. Particularly in right-wing and digitally mediated political contexts, “common sense” narrows debate and forecloses alternatives, offering rhetorical certainty where epistemic humility is required.