Simple ideas that
change how you see things.

Practical wisdom, amusingly illustrated.

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Explore the insights

Common sense
isn’t always
common.

A red light bulb casts a pool of hand-drawn ideas, questions and possibilities.

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Magical Insights

A couple separates facts from emotions while considering a major relocation.

MI–0001Emotional distance
improves problem-solving

A wedding scene contrasts commitment with a financially rewarding exit.

MI–0002When breaking the
agreement pays

A buyer chooses a sports car emotionally, then adds logical reasons afterward.

MI–0003Emotion makes the decision;
logic makes the case

Two café conversations contrast gossip about people with discussion of an idea.

MI–0004Great minds discuss
ideas

A game show called Guess What I Need has a hidden rulebook.

MI–0005Unspoken expectations
become resentment

The same homeowner feels proud or dissatisfied depending on the size of the neighboring houses.

MI–0006Comparison is the
thief of joy

The same person either chases an endless succession of status symbols or happily improves the home he already has.

MI–0007Happiness is
a choice

An overprotected child sits indoors surrounded by bubble wrap while another child confidently walks to a neighborhood store.

MI–0008Responsibility manages risk
without eliminating freedom

The complete collection

See all the
Magical InsightsNewest insights firstExplore the collection

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Voted the Three Most Useful Insights

Selected from a review of the first 25 insights for breadth, practical usefulness and potential impact on everyday decisions.

Two rabbits in a box become three rabbits: an increase from 2% to 3% of a hundred rabbits, but also 50% more rabbits inside the box.

1 MI–0019

Ask: Relative to What?

One simple question can protect you from misleading medical statistics, political claims, marketing figures and sensational headlines. A percentage is incomplete until you know what it is a percentage of.

Best for: Seeing through impressive but potentially misleading numbers.

Read Ask: Relative to What?

A delighted buyer follows desire into a sports-car purchase, then lists respectable-sounding reasons.

2 MI–0003

Emotion Makes the Decision; Logic Makes the Case

We often believe we are reasoning towards a decision when we are actually constructing respectable explanations for something emotion has already chosen. Recognising that pattern makes it possible to interrupt it.

Best for: Making better personal and business decisions.

Read Emotion Makes the Decision

The same worker is overwhelmed by a tower of problems on one side and calmly solves the identical situation as a colourful puzzle on the other.

3 MI–0012

A Puzzle Is a Problem With the Emotion Removed

Calling a difficult situation a puzzle changes your relationship with it. Instead of feeling trapped, you begin asking what you know, what you can test and what the next intelligent move might be.

Best for: Turning anxiety and overwhelm into investigation and action.

Read A Puzzle Is a Problem With the Emotion Removed

One insight can change how you see everything.

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Featured Magical Insight of the Week

MI–0007

Progress without postponed happiness

Happiness is a choice

“Happiness is a choice.”

You do not have to wait for life to improve before allowing yourself to be happy. Acceptance and ambition can exist in the same life.

See the full insight

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Why Common Sense Magic?

A glowing light bulb emerging from a red magician's hat.

The useful idea is often hiding in plain sight.

Most valuable insights are not complicated. They feel obvious once someone points them out—and can remain surprisingly difficult to see until then.

Common Sense Magic collects short observations about decisions, relationships, business and human behavior, then brings them to life with a little humor. The aim is not to tell you what to think. It is to offer a clearer way to look at something you already encounter every day.

Notice the familiar pattern

Reframe the hidden assumption

Apply the idea differently

Meet Tim and Sonja and read the story behind the collection

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An independent AI perspective

We asked Google Gemini to examine Common Sense Magic and its first 12 Magical Insights for quality and originality. Gemini was not told who created the website and was not asked to reach a favorable conclusion. This is the assessment it produced.

Gemini's illustrated conceptual review of Common Sense Magic, rating execution five out of five, originality four out of five, and the overall concept four and a half out of five. — Assessment and original visual created by Google Gemini from a neutral review prompt. Reference labels were subsequently aligned with the website’s current insight numbering.

One small idea can change the whole picture.

Simple ideas thatchange how you see things.