Define insane

[Thanatos]

"You're insane" is a common phrase, but what does it mean? What differentiates an insane person from a sane person? Anything? What would constitute proof of insanity?

[Jinei]

This is not the actual definition, but I always use it in this way:

Someone who keeps doing the same thing over and over again, who keeps getting the same undesired results over and over again, and who will keep doing it over and over again without it never occuring to them that what they're doing is insane!!!!
I suppose to test that out, one would put forth a predictive theory of insanity in which you'll predict what that person is going to do next, which by following the above definition wouldn't be too difficult...

Also, I heard in a movie that insane people won't admit the possibility that they're insane. Which is completely paradoxical, but whatever.

[Compugasm]

Quote by: Thanatos What would constitute proof of insanity?

If someone handed you a piece of paper with "I'm crazy" on it. I would say that is proof. Not just because it was written documentation, but the fact they carried it around. That would be all the proof I needed. Oh, or branding a swastica into your forehead.

[Thanatos]

Quote by: Compugasm If someone handed you a piece of paper with "I'm crazy" on it. I would say that is proof. Not just because it was written documentation, but the fact they carried it around. That would be all the proof I needed. Oh, or branding a swastica into your forehead.

You forgot feeding a kitten into a paper shredder and drinking it.

Is it really just being deviant? Is everybody who thinks differently nuts? I can be pretty weird sometimes yet I don't consider myself nuts because I'm a logical sort of weird. Einstein and Copernicus would have been insane I suppose, and I don't think that quite expresses what most people mean by it.

[Compugasm]

Quote by: Thanatos You forgot feeding a kitten into a paper shredder and drinking it.

Okay, I tried that and it didn't work. About 4 sheets of paper is all it can handle at one time. I'll try the holy woodchipper.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Quote by: Thanatos You forgot feeding a kitten into a paper shredder and drinking it. Is it really just being deviant? Is everybody who thinks differently nuts? I can be pretty weird sometimes yet I don't consider myself nuts because I'm a logical sort of weird. Einstein and Copernicus would have been insane I suppose, and I don't think that quite expresses what most people mean by it.

Einstein and copernicus were challenging scientific norms (actually, no one caused much of a ruckus over copernicus, and his ideas were generally beleived to be logical, but the establishment trapped itself into challenging his ideas) Insane is usually deviant not just of authority but of the nature of the majority of humans, such as a person who enjoys the act of killing, which is a natural taboo.

[Morality Games]

Calling something 'insane' is an observation, usually one aimed at someone who is behaving erratically in a malproductive or disturbing way or whose personality and views strongly disagree with your own (relatively speaking, might not be any difference). Like all of language, the word 'insane' has no meaning beyond how humans use it in particular situations -- in effect, what their intention behind the word is.

[Jack]

Like all of language, the word 'insane' has no meaning beyond how humans use it in particular situations -- in effect, what their intention behind the word is.

Context also affects its meaning. A 19 year old calling me insane in a forum is one thing; a board certified psychologist looking at test results and telling me I'm insane is another.
"Sane" isn't much better defined, for that matter.

[Thanatos]

Quote by: Compugasm Okay, I tried that and it didn't work. About 4 sheets of paper is all it can handle at one time. I'll try the holy woodchipper.

Thin the kitten. If it won't fit you either need a better shredder or a heavier sledgehammer.

Quote by: Morality Games Calling something 'insane' is an observation, usually one aimed at someone who is behaving erratically in a malproductive or disturbing way or whose personality and views strongly disagree with your own (relatively speaking, might not be any difference).

A rational definition, although I harbor an irrational dislike for it because it still makes me a crazy.

[Jack]

If you thought you were insane, you couldn't be, since acknowledging your own insanity would be a sane observation. But no sane person wants to be thought insane, so describing yourself as insane would be an insane behavior, while still an act indicating sanity.

This is making me insane.

[Compugasm]

Quote by: Thanatos Thin the kitten. If it won't fit you either need a better shredder or a heavier sledgehammer.

The pasta roller works good.

[wyoguy]

I've learned enough about the folks on Volconvo to know that flattening a kitten to feed it through a paper shredder is probably an attempt at humor.... not insane....

Eccentricity is defined as out of center....

Insanity is eccentricity when it wobbles outside of acceptable societal norms (Law).

Owning 20 cats is eccentric....

Flattening your 20 cats in order to feed them through a paper shredder is insane....

The fur will bind and make the shredder sieze up.

[SoylentGreen]

Flattening your 20 cats in order to feed them through a paper shredder is insane

True. You would be better off using a mincer, I have found that cat fur gets stuck in a shredder and then you have to stop and clear it.

Now if yopu want insane , always look to the military.

"catch 22" - the twenty-second of the guidelines used by military surgeons to "catch" those falsely claiming to be insane - is that an insane person should not believe or suspect that they are insane. Thus, to be recognised as insane a person must not ask for an evaluation, because doing so implicitly shows that they suspect themselves to be insane. But, if a person does not ask for an evaluation, they cannot be recognised as insane because the evaluation is the method by which such recognition would occur. Thus, nobody can ever classify themselves as insane (even if they genuinely are), and thus nobody may ever use that method to escape flying combat missions.

[Technosoul]

I would say that about 90 some percent of the people living in the USA are insane, but because of popular opinion the few normal people would be viewed as the nut cases by the rest of us.

But we do have a difinition for insanity and that is anyone who is a danger to their self or others. Espeically if you are talking about unemployed people.

But one more thing must be added, to be offically insane you must not realize that you are such.

[Praxius]

The insane are for the most part people who see, act apon and/or believe things in which do not fit the normal spectrum of society's level of understanding.

To most, someone who is insane is someone who talks to someone who isn't physically there, or feels that there are people out to get them, or they collect something odd in which they place great value into, that many other "Normal" people would deem trivial or a waste of time.

Someone who claims they were told by some disembodied voice to do something that nobody else can confirm or deny that it really occured.

Someone who claims they were abducted by aliens or by the military, were tested on and then released without any solid evidence proving one way or another that it occured.

Basically someone insane could be summed up to someone who believes the unprovable or thinks the things they believe in, which may contradict or oppose common social acceptence, are the true way to act or live their lives as.

To me, insanity is subjective.... and sometimes, those who are classified as insane are usually those who make more sense then the normal accepted beliefs, but since they can pose a danger to an already accepted way of living or acting, or perhaps if they pose a danger to the safety of others based on their mentality, they can be locked away until they're "Cured"

To me, I honestly don't believe there is such a thing as a "Sane" person, as we're all pretty insane in some aspects of our lives or another in which others disagree with your stand.

In order to be "Sane" one must confirm to the already set ways of living, acting and interacting as every single other person in that society. We would have to remove just about every aspect of our personalities in which give us our individuality to meet this level of identification.

If you have a different point of view of something, no matter how "Crazy" it may seem, then you are an individual..... when you begin to just accept what is told to you without question and you live your life as you are ordered to, then there is no chance of insanity to be detected......

..... until the continual act of conformity finally breaks you mentally and then you decide to act out in a violent or uncontrolable manner to express your opposition to the things you feel are wrong in your life. You let it build up in your head and push it away again and again until it can no longer be avoided and then you take drastic action...... then you become insane, because you lose control over your own ability to make sound decisions that may or may not endanger you or others around you.

Am I insane?

Yes, but I have it currently under control, so it's all good.

[Dadoo]

Lao Tzu once said a bit about meeting the most perfect person, sane in all ways: dress, speech, behaviour. He recommended running away and fast.
That is, it's all a ruse, sanity. It does serve a key purpose. Yet I believe we are actually more individual beyond the basic needs than the cultural standards would show. INdividuality is often defined as insanity.
I guess it's an opinion and all opinion is like smoke...it just blows away.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Jack If you thought you were insane, you couldn't be, since acknowledging your own insanity would be a sane observation. But no sane person wants to be thought insane, so describing yourself as insane would be an insane behavior, while still an act indicating sanity. This is making me insane.

Well if you wrote a book on abnormal behavior then you could just make everyone else nuts unless they are just like you. That works.

[wyoguy]

Quote by: Technosoul Well if you wrote a book on abnormal behavior then you could just make everyone else nuts unless they are just like you. That works.

Worked for Freud

[Rogue Cardinal]

Praying to an imaginary being to give you stuff over and over again, even though you never get what you are asking for. That's insane.

[Sweet Katie]

Quote by: Thanatos "You're insane" is a common phrase, but what does it mean? What differentiates an insane person from a sane person? Anything? What would constitute proof of insanity?

Insanity is when the reality presented by the mind differs from what is actuality. I theorize that 100% Sanity and 100% Insanity are non-existent.