Reddit Reddit reviews Sudden Death: A Novel

We found 2 Reddit comments about Sudden Death: A Novel. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Sudden Death: A Novel
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2 Reddit comments about Sudden Death: A Novel:

u/legendofzenda · 31 pointsr/therewasanattempt

No it's not...

"I hear this every week, sometimes twice a day: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." No, it isn't.

To be clear, insanity is a legal term pertaining to a defendant's ability to determine right from wrong when a crime is committed. Here's the first sentence of law.com's lengthy definition:

Insanity. n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.

Insanity is a concept discussed in court to help distinguish guilt from innocence. It's informed by mental health professionals, but the term today is primarily legal, not psychological. There's no "insane" diagnosis listed in the DSM. There's no "nervous breakdown" either, but that's another blog.

Where did this saying come from? It's attributed to Albert Einstein (probably not), Benjamin Franklin (probably not), Mark Twain (probably not) and mystery writer Rita Mae Brown (probably so) who used it in her novel Sudden Death. It's not clear who said it first, but according to at least one blogger it's "the dumbest thing a smart person ever said." The catchy saying has gathered steam in the past few years (example I, IIIII), and regardless of the source, it's gotten a lot of mileage.

I'm not in the habit of slamming cute sayings (with one exception), but I think there's a dark underbelly to this one. I've started hearing people use it in the service of avoidance, which is a defense mechanism. Rather than facing their fears, they grab on to this saying for protection against possible failure, pain or rejection. Some examples:

  • "I've asked out two women and been shot down both times, and you know the definition of insanity..."
  • "I jogged for a week and actually gained weight. They say the definition of insanity is ..."
  • "It's been a month and I'm still crying about his death. I'm living the definition of insanity.""

    Source

    Not sure why, but whenever I hear this, it bugs me. Mental health, and mental health care, is important, and I don't think terms like this should be thrown around lightly. They lose impact if you do that, yo.

    Edit: Also, I feel like this "definition of inanity" thing, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, seems like, instead, the actual definition of the scientific method. Experimentation is the act of doing the same thing over and over, in a controlled setting, and monitoring for different results. And it bugs me that people treat that as insanity.
u/[deleted] · 25 pointsr/aaaaaatheismmmmmmmmmm

Two things:

  1. This has nothing to do with Einstein, he never said it. It's been attributed to other witty/smart people, as well. But people use the "if Einstein said it then it must be true" fallacy to spread this... It likely originates from this book published in 1984, some 29 years after Einstein's death.

  2. For the record: Insanity is not a psychological disorder. It is a legal term used in the pursuit of understanding whether or not a defendant is capable of understanding right from wrong according to the society they live in. IE: an "insane" person is a person who cannot understand right from wrong according to a judge.

    "Insanity" has nothing to do with repetition at all. Perhaps the word intended is perseverate?

    EDIT: I'm pedantic on stuff like this because these comics and these posts spread, on Facebook, etc. We should strive for accuracy lest simple mistakes distract from what is a good message.