That quote is attributed to Voltaire (1694-1778), a French writer, historian and philosopher. Another good quote on the subject of common sense is: “It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.” Robert Green Ingersoll.

Given the recent Cyber-attacks involving Colonial Pipeline and JBS meatpacking (so far) these “hacks” have caused much in the way of costly down-time and at the very least major inconvenience for a lot of people. Since nothing these companies do requires an internet connection then why did they happen?

The answer: Common sense or, more specifically, the lack of it. Common sense would tell most of us that if we don’t want something to be hacked, attacked or otherwise compromised by an external malefactor is not to connect it to the internet in the first place…Even if it means lack of convenience or requires more labor to do this. The cost of even one “hack” is simply unacceptable.

Yet what does almost all of these “Titans of industry” do when given the choice of connecting or not connecting critical control systems to the internet? Connecting these systems to the internet is tantamount to hanging a sign outside the company inviting the crooks to come in. And, if the crooks think it’s worth their time, they will sooner or later.

I’ve witnessed several “incidents” over the years illustrating a lack of common sense. At one company I worked at workers tried to refill a gasoline powered water pump shortly after it had stopped and was still hot. Of course gasoline was spilled on the hot exhaust manifold and ignited starting a fire which damaged the pump and motor beyond repair.

To replace it I offered to build an electric pump on a “dolly” so it could be easily moved around to where it was needed. It didn’t use gasoline and there were many electrical outlets in the area it was to be used so the power source wasn’t a problem. Using a variable frequency drive and some simple controls would make it nearly impossible to damage under any conditions unlike the gasoline powered pump.

Even though this was a common-sense solution and the costs for the gasoline and electric powered units were about the same and this company that prided itself for being on the “cutting edge” and innovative how do you think the “Titans” of this industry decided to go? You guessed it. They bought another gasoline powered water pump.

What’s that saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

Of course there is sort of a natural “inertia” to stay the course, “don’t make waves” and go with the conventional wisdom and to a certain degree that makes sense. If what you’re doing doesn’t present any problems and make sense money-wise there’s no reason to change. Change just for the sake of change isn’t a good reason to change either.

But rejecting a clearly superior technology where, if the technology prevented even one breakdown it would pay for itself and then some doesn’t make any sense. While I’ve chronicled instances of improper use and over-use of computer controls there are times when they make a lot of sense. The wisdom comes in knowing the difference.