Common Sense: Why It's No Longer Common

Common sense, or sound practical thinking allied to ``the craft of reasonable living,'' is rare, to judge from Joseph's witty look at contemporary follies. Author of Gaia: The Growth of an Idea , he blasts the elitist World Bank for imposing rich nations' agendas on developing countries and laments the overspecialization in U.S. colleges which, he argues, fosters ``educated inability.'' In search of common sense (CS), Joseph participates in a Sioux sweat-lodge ceremony; seeks global common ground at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio; visits Berea College in Kentucky, where students learn responsibility through a work-study program; and interviews Iceland's president Vigdis Finnbogadottir, a woman whose commonsensical compatriots live longer than any other people in the world. We also meet a supercomputer in Austin, Tex., being programmed with CS. (Jan.)