People With No Common Sense Often Do These 11 Things Without Even Realizing
People with no common sense lack both social and self-awareness.
Alina Kruk / Shutterstock Even though it’s a relatively subjective term, more people than ever are missing the characteristics generally associated with common sense, including kindness, basic empathy, respect for others, social awareness, and emotional regulation. Because they lack these traits, there are several things people with no common sense do often without even realizing that make them exhausting to be around.
These people not only generally feel entitled to other people’s time, space, and resources, but also lack the kind of awareness that makes even the most basic interactions anything but frustrating. From interrupting conversations to asking obvious questions and trauma-dumping with strangers, people with no common sense sabotage their ability to cultivate depth in their social interactions and relationships.
People with no common sense often do these 11 things without even realizing
1. Asking questions before trying to find an answer
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Whether it’s distracting a service worker with a question that’s easily available online, asking a manager to solve a problem that could’ve been easily searched and reconciled, or getting help from busy co-workers on a project that could’ve been easily approached alone, people with no common sense often do these things without even realizing.
Rather than lean into the discomfort, challenge, and newness for the sake of personal growth, figuring out issues and answering questions on their own, they immediately resort to asking other people to step in. Not only does this hinder their personal development, but it also sparks annoyance and resentment in their relationships.
2. Making the same mistakes multiple times
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Considering self-awareness and other internal practices like self-reflection are inherently linked, it’s not surprising that people without common sense tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. They never reflect on the “why” behind their actions and mistakes, instead blaming external factors and people, so they tend to repeat the same misguided behaviors consistently.
Many people who lack common sense also miss opportunities to learn from other people’s mistakes, a kind of personal growth practice that can be just as important as learning from one’s own, because they lack the social awareness and engagement to notice.
3. Oversharing
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People who lack common sense also lack essential social skills, such as empathy and awareness of others' needs, that predict their success in interacting with others. They struggle to simply listen to others, observe their behaviors, and even reflect on and regulate themselves in the moment, according to resiliency scholar Robyne Hanley-Dafoe.
Without the foundational ability to read social cues and intuitively pick up on the energy of their conversations, they often trauma-dump on people they’ve just met and overshare in the wrong places and at the wrong time. People with true common sense find this behavior exhausting, not only because they’re burdened with rectifying and comforting a person they hardly know, but because they also have to cope with the discomfort of hearing it in an inappropriate context.
Of course, individuals lacking social awareness tend to prioritize their surface-level emotions. When faced with discomfort, their primary concern is to either express it or cope with it, regardless of its timing or toxicity.
4. Showing up late
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A study from Michigan State University argues that being flaky and showing up late to commitments can sabotage healthy relationships and isolate people from social support. Yet, many people with common sense still fall victim to this tendency in their daily lives. They lack the time and task management to thrive, considering these practices are linked to well-being, relationship health, and professional success, falling short on their promises and commitments.
They say yes to things they don’t have time for, take on work they can’t finish, and ignore planning for the sake of instant comfort and procrastination. While it may not be a deliberate lack of respect for other people’s time and effort, lacking basic time awareness is still one of the things people without common sense do without realizing that it sets them up for failure.
5. Overspending
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While healthy spending habits and financial literacy are certainly well beyond common sense, many people who lack them struggle with finances because of poor coping skills, self-awareness, and reflection. They lean on overspending to cope with unresolved trauma and discomfort, while also seeking belonging by buying into trends and purchasing status symbols.
Even if they’re spending money they don’t have or putting their future financial security at risk, people with no common sense often do these things without even realizing.
6. Spending too much time online
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Too much screen time and engagement with social media is often associated with lowered psychological well-being, according to a study from the Preventive Medicine Reports journal, but people who already lack common sense, self-awareness, and self-discipline may also find themselves overusing their phones and mindless entertainment.
They lack the reflective tendencies to connect their struggles to their screen time or the discipline to set boundaries in their routine, leading to excessive online time without realizing it. Not only does this behavior negatively affect their sleep quality, even though they might blame others, noise, or pillows for their tiredness, it sparks social anxiety, isolation, and depressive symptoms.
People with no common sense often do these things, using doomscrolling as a tactic for coping with stress or distracting themselves from anxiety with mindless TV, without even realizing it, at the expense of their well-being and relationships.
7. Ignoring people’s advice
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Of course, unsolicited and unprompted advice sparks stress, resentment, and disconnection, but people with common sense also ignore and invalidate advice and help they personally asked for from others. They go out of their way to vent about their issues, ask for advice, and take time away from others, only to completely disregard it and complain without action in the future.
People with no common sense ignore people's advice without even realizing it because they can’t grasp that another person would be emotionally exhausted from listening to their complaints, especially when they’ve offered advice already and it’s gone unused.
8. Being obnoxious in public
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Many people who lack social awareness and general self-awareness, two main indicators of a person’s common sense, tend to be obnoxious in public because they’re only focused on themselves. They don’t have the ability to read social skills, or, more importantly, assess the vibe, energy, or feelings of the people around them, so they make messes, talk loudly, and overlook other people’s needs in favor of their own.
Obviously, not everyone who struggles with social cues or self-awareness inherently lacks common sense. Still, when they’re coupled with traits like entitlement, ignorance, or even narcissism, it can be a sign that they do.
9. Expecting special treatment and attention
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Many people who lack self-esteem struggle with internal security and self-awareness, so when they need reassurance and comfort, they turn to external validation and praise. Instead of adopting healthy habits and behaviors that provide internal stability, they engage in attention-seeking behaviors and expect others to reaffirm them constantly.
Despite having the power to change their behavior and craft new habits, they instead rely on quick fixes from other people to find instant gratification, comfort, and security.
10. Ignoring social norms
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Alongside social cues and social energy, people with no common sense often ignore social norms in places like the workplace or out in public without even realizing it. Whether it’s struggling with a dress code, ignoring and disrespecting other people’s boundaries, respecting personal space, or talking loudly in public, they tend to ignore social norms in favor of their own instant personal comfort.
While noticing other people and subtle differences in conversations may feel normal to someone with common sense, for others, it’s a struggle that negatively affects their social perceptions, self-awareness, and personal relationships.
11. Blaming other people for their problems
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Without the reflective behaviors and self-awareness that fuel the average person in taking accountability and learning from their mistakes, people who lack accountability instead blame others and paint themselves as the victim to protect their ego. They view mistakes and the act of not knowing as failures, painting them in a negative light socially, even if they’re really markers of competency with grace.
They don’t understand the powers of self-discipline and personal growth, so they expect everything in life to simply fall into their laps.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
