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ALL Feel free to comment and contribute and never feel limited by inadequacy as all views are valid and there are no right or wrongs on this blog. Also, remember to invite your friends and let us not revere passiveness so much, it is something special when your voice can be heard and its these same voices that inspire my writing.

Apr 8, 2010

The Clarity of Sanity










It was a funny epiphany while I was observing a seemingly eccentric person that it came to me. Is there really such a thing as sanity? Now please bear with my... "lack of sanity " for this statement but who is to say that in the cosmic flow of things we are not in fact the ones on the negative extreme. Fooling ourselves into thinking we are correct in our assumptions and  beliefs based on the majority rule. I mean a lot of our sane human amenities, social conditions and procedures have been provided by seemingly insane characters. 

Ludwig van Beethoven who has produced some of the worlds most renowned music struggled with Bipolar Disorder and thoughts of suicide. 

Sir Issac Newton who gave us what is now modern day physics such as the laws of gravity, developing laws of motion and building, the first reflective telescope and the color spectrum  also suffered from psychotic tendencies and mood swings. 

Nicola Tesla the father of commercial electricity ( yes the wires on the poles that power your TV, microwave and computer) and AC current was an all round genius which most cannot even fathom yet he was obsessive compulsive, declared himself celibate to focus on work and was generally a social recluse until he had to present one of his grand inventions. 

These are but a few "insane" men that have contributed to our sane way of living. But I meditate and think that  tomorrow if we were to find out that all we thought was right was actually false and the man talking to himself on the side of the road was actually of a "higher mind"  how would we take it ? Would you insert yourself into a mental institution as being mad? Before you think that we are at a stage technologically to dismiss this remember, for something as basic as yawning we still do not know why it is contagious. Also, at one point not long ago in human history the entire world accepted that the world was flat until one "insane man" proved that it was round. 

So in light of this, how are we then to make a bold and audacious statements with regards to the vast and complex mind as to what sanity is ?  Some may even argue that this "insanity" may be the new indicator of higher intelligence.  


I end with a quote from Edgar Allen Poe; another creative writing genius who suffered from mental illness and alcohol abuse


"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence -- whether much that is glorious -- whether all that is profound -- does not spring from disease of thought -- from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect"

6 comments:

  1. hmmmmm- is that we consider them mad coz they are diff than the norm, and not coz they r really insane?
    in society there are certain things 1 should subscribe to or a certain way 1 should act, and any deviation is labelled as something bad.
    the image your conjuring in my mind is for me to approach a dirty madman and start talking to him, i'm not looking down on him enuh, so dont get me wrong, but a madman run mi down a ready wid a piece a board and a nex 1 went 'rat at tat tat' after me with his hand in the shape of a big gun 0_o so eeerrmmm mi nuh thing him 'sane' -_-
    but what really is sanity? the dictionary define it as "free from mental derangement; having a sound, healthy mind, having or showing reason, sound judgment, or good sense" and these men you mentioned did they possess these characteristics? and because they thout out of the box does that make them 'mentally deranged?' how would they have been able to create the things they did?
    the dictionary also defines insanity as 'such unsoundness of mind as affects legal responsibility or capacity' so therefore is it disregard for responsibility insanity? 0_o

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  2. Another insightful post. You certainly pick provocative food for thought. Poor Beethoven, he likely went mad because of alienation from his "Immortal Beloved." He was certainly a romantic and one of the greatest composers of all time.

    There is, indeed, a fine line between madness and genius - this much you already know, having teetered precariously there for quite some time now. ;-)

    Darcy

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  3. Yute dis is exactly wah me preach .... this actually look like supm wah me woulda write......good read yute.....me a gwaan pree dis blog fi see wah u come wid next.....

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  4. DWL@ Darcy..ur last statement holds tru indeed.But,in truth & in fact several studies have always shown that creativity and mood disorders are linked. Is creative genius somehow woven together with "madness"? According to the dictionary, "to create" is "to bring into being or form out of nothing." Such a powerful, mysterious, and even impossible act for some(namely me-lol) must surely be beyond the scope of scientific inquiry! No wonder creativity has for so long been "explained" as the expression of an irrational, intuitive psychic "underground" teaming with forces (perhaps divine) that are unknown and unknowable (at least to the "sane," conventional mind).
    This topic will always be up for debate as it pertains what really is insane vs sane...

    Good Read- cant wait for you to touch on my topic-Im sure you know what that is:)

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  5. @darcy and shirley yes i admit i may be a victim or perceived 'insanity'

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  6. @SWalters -- I couldnt have said it better myself. creativity is linked with mood or mental disorders.

    According to the medical definition Autism - a developmental disorder that appears by age three and that is variable in expression but is recognized and diagnosed by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, by impairment of the ability to communicate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns especially as exhibited by a preoccupation with repetitive activities of restricted focus rather than with flexible and imaginative ones.

    Ever notice that an autistic person has some remarkable talent? Talent beyond that which the "sane man" can comprehend. they may not be able to "fit in" with what society deems as being the norm, but clearly in other aspects they are far more advance.

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