Personally, I think there is a definite positive correlation between intelligence and “common sense”. Think about it. Take the top 10% of a large High School graduating class and compare their common sense to those at the bottom 10%. Which group do you think will make better “life decisions”? Which group do you think will have more trouble with the day-to-day issues that we all have to suffer?
The idiot savant shows that extremes at both ends can occur in the same person, but, in general, the higher the intelligence, the more likely one will have more common sense.
Of course, just like the amount of money someone earns has little to do with how smart they are, neither does how well someone does on a academic test. But, as a general rule, those in the top 10% of the graduating class will make more than those at the bottom.
excavating (for a mind)
I’m not gonna lie, I think this stereotype exists to make less smart people feel good about themselves. Most of the exceptionally dim people I know or have worked with have had below-average common sense as well. Among the smarter cookies I’ve known, some have been remarkably on top of things, a few have been somewhat ditzy, but most have been pretty average in the common sense department. Same with the “average” people I know.
Speaking in generalities, it seems to me that dumb people have poor common sense, while people with average and above average intelligence (as commonly measured by standardized tests, grades, reading comprehension, etc. I know there are problems with these methods, but we all know what kind of “smart” the OP is talking about) run the gamut when it comes to common sense. In other words, intelligence isn’t a guarantee of common sense, but in most cases it is a precondition.