Ponder for a moment just one definition of common sense: “a conclusion based upon a mix of instinct, intellect, experience, logic, prudence and justice. The precise definition is difficult to pinpoint, as the person possessing it is rare.”

And getting rarer.

My question: Whatever happened to this invaluable instinct for problem-solving, embraced by humans since the beginning of time, known as good sense, horse sense and, yes, common sense?

Long before specific laws were promulgated in the United States, our system was regulated by “common law,” which even today provides our legal framework. Common law depends on circumstances, not written rules, to evaluate proper conclusions. It involves resolving situations by simply using common sense.

Unfortunately, government began passing statutory law en mass with Franklin D. Roosevelt, and it’s escalated under every administration since. The 1960s terminology transformed “law” into “rules and regulation,” along the way creating expanded roles of government designed to regulate uniformly and meticulously.

The problem: It’s quite possibly crippled our ability and certainly our inclination to use plain old common sense. 

Bureaucratic rules have become so embedded in our society that its ability to function smoothly is bound up in procedures designed to bring about just the opposite. Rules dictate that individuals no longer accept responsibility for actions.

Dealing with government procedures increases the cost of almost everything procured or contracted. Unnecessary costs equate to higher taxation. Negotiations with bureaucracy can begin at prices 25 percent higher than those of private enterprise because of built-in procedural costs.

But our increasingly complex problems in life can’t be so readily reduced to the black and white of rules and regulations. Seeing the varying nuances of gray is vital in the human experience. Strict law, unfortunately, often prevents the all-important wonder of human invention.

Examples of reducing our government workers and others to mere code-addicted robots and drones abound. Little old ladies in wheelchairs are searched as possible terrorists in airport security. An American ambassador is told to remove his leg prosthesis while trying to catch a flight.

One of the most ridiculous happened here in Central Texas: A College Station police officer gave a Good Samaritan a ticket for failure to yield while helping a woman whose car was on fire. Seems the man crossed the road on foot to help, was hit by a car, then ticketed in the hospital.

Renewing a driver’s license in Waco takes several hours now because of new procedures. Why are our state lawmakers not visiting these offices and demanding some of the very common sense they claim to champion when they’re on the campaign trail every few years?

Most outrageous example: Allowing a Dallas child psychiatrist to keep his medical license after a conviction for abusing a 10-year-old child. Other abused patients came forward to protest the decision.

Bad law is often created after pressing situations create necessity — for instance, the financial collapse, the Bernie Madoff scam, etc. Americans, however, may pay a hefty price in new laws emanating from a lack of corporate governance and outright fraud. And morality can never be legislated. Hopefully, our lawmakers will craft laws leaving elbow room for deviations and that miracle of human invention, even at the expense of loophole abuse.

The Supreme Court session this fall will focus on bankruptcy, corporate compensation, patents, antitrust and government oversight of the financial system — all extremely important issues facing our nation, shaping the future of the country and our chances for prosperity.

If one absolutely must have a book of laws, I’d suggest starting with King Solomon, wisest of Judean kings. He wrote the book of Proverbs, which after a couple of thousand years still suffices as an excellent guide to understanding the increasingly elusive notion of common sense.

Clifton Robinson is chairman of Robinson Media, which owns the Tribune-Herald.