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Master_Pedant
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08 Jun 2009, 3:44 pm

Insanity is a medically obselote concept. Legally or in popular usage I think it's only possible to come up with an ostensive definition. Particularly examples, like the man who sincerely believes he is the Emperor of Antarctica, define insanity as best as we can.



ryan93
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29 Jun 2009, 7:31 pm

I've been thinking, and I now thing the definition of insane is someone who holds an alternate reality to the mainstream concept of reality. One can only learn about the world through perception, so if someone else perceives something in a different way we cannot say that there reality is wrong, only...different.



monty
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29 Jun 2009, 8:17 pm

ryan93 wrote:
I've been thinking, and I now thing the definition of insane is someone who holds an alternate reality to the mainstream concept of reality. One can only learn about the world through perception, so if someone else perceives something in a different way we cannot say that there reality is wrong, only...different.


I disagree - we can learn about the world through the physical (perception) and the metaphysical... with an understanding of patterns, logic, math, and other metaphysics, we can interpret what we perceive and understand the world to a much deeper level.

One of the stock questions used to explore a person's grip on reality is 'can you control the weather?" ... people who say they can are tested, and in the unlikely case that they actually can control the weather, they are shipped off to illuminati controlled institutions, where their talents are harnessed. Just kidding!



MissConstrue
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29 Jun 2009, 8:56 pm

Definition of insanity:

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Seems to be a common human trait.


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claire-333
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29 Jun 2009, 9:06 pm

monty wrote:
One of the stock questions used to explore a person's grip on reality is 'can you control the weather?"
Knowing me, I would want to know if they meant 'you' as in me or a general 'you' because cloud seeding is a form of weather control even though it has its conspiracies and skeptics, but of course cloud seeding is not something I am personally able to do. So yeah, most likely my stock reply of...What does that mean? :lol:



monty
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29 Jun 2009, 9:48 pm

Oh - they mean can you control the weather with your mind. Of course, given the equipment, one can seed clouds and sometimes trigger a rainstorm here rather than over there, where the clouds are heading. I don't think they would ding you any points for asking for clarification ... they are looking for evidence of delusions. Some people are convinced that they can move clouds around, summon rain, etc. Not sure if the Indian rain dances are from a cultural delusion, or a misunderstanding on our part.



Sand
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29 Jun 2009, 10:08 pm

"All the world old is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer." Robert Owen.



claire-333
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30 Jun 2009, 2:07 am

monty wrote:
Not sure if the Indian rain dances are from a cultural delusion, or a misunderstanding on our part.
From my understanding, they did not think they could control the weather but it was rather a ceremony asking the gods for the appropriate amount of rain for a good harvest. But Indian religion might still leave open the questions of cultural delusion, so I will leave that one up to you to decide.



Sand
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30 Jun 2009, 2:45 am

claire333 wrote:
monty wrote:
Not sure if the Indian rain dances are from a cultural delusion, or a misunderstanding on our part.
From my understanding, they did not think they could control the weather but it was rather a ceremony asking the gods for the appropriate amount of rain for a good harvest. But Indian religion might still leave open the questions of cultural delusion, so I will leave that one up to you to decide.


Since belief in god or gods is proclaimed as a matter of faith and faith is defined as belief with no proof and to request action from sources which are accepted as not proved to exist indicates a specific state of mind I suppose that state can be defined in various ways. "Insanity" strikes me as a sensible word to use in that case.



ruveyn
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30 Jun 2009, 8:27 am

monty wrote:

One of the stock questions used to explore a person's grip on reality is 'can you control the weather?" ... people who say they can are tested, and in the unlikely case that they actually can control the weather, they are shipped off to illuminati controlled institutions, where their talents are harnessed. Just kidding!


No, but we can get in out of the rain.

Weather is governed by chaotic dynamics. It will not be controlled by Man. Predicated to some degree of accuracy, but never controlled.

ruveyn



matsuiny2004
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30 Jun 2009, 10:06 am

Aspie_Chav wrote:
Today I was playing around with the suction-cups used for getting dents out of cars, on the side of the desk. One of my workmate said in so many words that I was a bit insane. He didn’t mean anything really by that remark.

I said to him, I have done more insane things in past; most of which are financial. Then again most people have done a lot worse with credit cards, new cars and buying things they cannot afford.

Other is are sexual, with having sex without any protection with a girl who I don’t know very well and with another that is extremely secretive, naïve and from a country that I know little about.

My definition of insanity is when you do an act does harm to oneself without any benefit.


I would say it is when "a person does not know they are talking to the wall or sun tzu". Got that one of an INTP forum.


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monty
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30 Jun 2009, 10:26 am

matsuiny2004 wrote:
Aspie_Chav wrote:

My definition of insanity is when you do an act does harm to oneself without any benefit.


I would say it is when "a person does not know they are talking to the wall or sun tzu". Got that one of an INTP forum.


There is a book on insanity called "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." Of course, there are many types of insanity, cases such as these are rather extreme.

My neighbor has alzheimer's - every time she comes outside and sees us walking the dogs, she says something like "oh, new people moved into the neighborhood" and asks us our names, where we are from, etc. (We have known her for 15 years.) As is typical of some types of dementia in the early stages, old memories are rather strong, but newer ones are obscured or destroyed, and her thinking is not always clear.



matsuiny2004
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30 Jun 2009, 10:39 am

I have neighbor that keeps calling me by the name of her husband whenever I walk by her house :? I wonder if she has early alzheimers?


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monty
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30 Jun 2009, 10:42 am

Could be - or some other type of dementia. People can also get those symptoms from hardening of the arteries to the brain, alcoholism, or other metabolic conditions. It is sad and scary.



b9
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30 Jun 2009, 11:04 am

i suppose i should read all the posts before i post but i did read that someone has already defined the etymological roots of the word.
without reference to even that post .....

sanity is "cleanliness" . "sane" therefore means "clean"

so people who's minds are not sane, are people who's minds are not clean (which also means their minds are not clear).

people who are insane will believe things that are the result of distorted perceptions.
their perceptions are distorted by their dirty faculties, and if they believe their distorted percepts, then they are deluded.

delusions are false beliefs, and someone who believes those beliefs strongly will act with passion pertinent to those beliefs.

for example, if someone believes with all their existence that they are trapped in a burning building about to collapse, then they may hurt or even kill people in their effort to escape in their panic.

but they did not intend to hurt those people, so they can not be blamed in the same way as someone who hurts people for fun.

it is very charitable for humanity to excuse someone on the basis of their sanity (although the accused then goes to a secure "funny farm" which is probably pleasant but they can not escape)

if you have an unsound mind, then you can not be blamed entirely for your actions, but you must be nevertheless restrained from participating in free society. so a hospital is chosen for the sentence rather than a prison.

i have never thought about this before so i am probably wrong.



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30 Jun 2009, 12:24 pm

Aspie_Chav wrote:
Today I was playing around with the suction-cups used for getting dents out of cars, on the side of the desk. One of my workmate said in so many words that I was a bit insane. He didn’t mean anything really by that remark.

I said to him, I have done more insane things in past; most of which are financial. Then again most people have done a lot worse with credit cards, new cars and buying things they cannot afford.

Other is are sexual, with having sex without any protection with a girl who I don’t know very well and with another that is extremely secretive, naïve and from a country that I know little about.

My definition of insanity is when you do an act does harm to oneself without any benefit.


I like the way you put it. I have my own way of saying it. Insanity for me would be an incongruence with perception and reality, if you can't explain what you percieve you could end up insane by trying to rationalize someting that might not be rational, or you could go insane by thinking you can ignore something that is completely real. Ironically some of the most insane people in the world pick up accurate details that others overlook, everyone could just be insane in their own way. I'm not having any more unprotected sex in the future, I'm lucky enough to be clean so far.