Misinterpreting insanity

@wwaycorrigan

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'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'

It's an oft-quoted aphorism, sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein, although it's not at all certain that he did actually utter such words. And before I go any further here, I must confess that in a 2012 blog story, Dealing with the dealers, not only did I blatantly make that attribution, but I also said that it was a definition of stupidity rather than insanity. Oh, the irony!

Insane in the brain? Perhaps not.

Ignorantly persevering with stubbornness

That aside, and whatever about the definition's origin, it's a poor attempt at defining insanity.

Firstly, repeatedly doing the same thing could lead to different results. In fact, it likely will lead to different results. That's because conditions are constantly changing. So an action that produces a certain result in one moment will often yield quite a different one in another moment.

Take an aspiring actor — and I'm not at all referring to myself here, honestly. Casting, after casting, after casting. Rejection, followed by rejection, followed by rejection. Then, with no alteration in approach, his face fits. He lands a significant role that changes his life.

'One is more likely to be ignorant, stubborn or stupid rather than insane.'

Something similar could happen in dating. A guy sticks stubbornly to his modus operandi despite countless failures, but then meets someone who is happy to be with him.

This plays out across all walks of life, in business, politics, sport, the lot.

In all such scenarios, the protagonists may have been convinced that their way was the right way all along. Thus, they kept at it and eventually got the outcome they wanted. A case, so they may feel, of the rest of the world catching up to them, not the other way around. And that may have been their expectation, or at least hope, all along.

Thus, to label this insanity is wrong.

Indeed, the opening words are closer to describing ignorance, if it's a case where one is simply unaware of another, better approach, if one exists that is. More positively, they refer to perseverance: 'I will eventually get the result I'm looking for. Believe in the process.'

Swim as you wish — if you can

For insanity, a slightly better definition is 'doing the same unsuccessful thing over and over again whilst knowing that it's highly unlikely to deliver any positive result.'

Such behaviour can also be labelled — more accurately, perhaps — as stubbornness and/or stupidity, in the sense of doing something negative or damaging in spite of oneself.

With insanity, the idea is that inherent mental issues are driving the conduct; it's part of one's makeup and cannot really be changed. Stubbornness, in contrast, suggests that one is choosing to comport oneself in a certain manner.

What's more, insanity — like genius — is rather rare amongst the populace. The definition given at the start and my attempt to improve upon it describe behaviours that are more commonplace.

One is more likely to be ignorant, stubborn or stupid — or a blend of all three — rather than insane. This at least offers some hope for betterment through learning — if one is willing to learn and is receptive to new ways of thinking, that is.

And nobody knows it all, not even the geniuses. To substantially alter another popular but weak quote misattributed to Einstein: 'Everybody has the ability to be good at something. But some prefer to go with the flow like a dead fish rather than flex their muscles and swim as they wish.'

One major problem for some of us, however, is that we're not great swimmers.
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