Many years ago I had to spend several weeks in a mental institution. When I could finally leave, I realized - under the influence of modern neuroleptic medication - that the world was not really how I had experienced it. That plants probably do not communicate over hidden dimensions. And that the world is not a simulation created by green skinned aliens who farm humans to extract some life essence from our blood.
It was a bit disappointing because it also meant that I had to content myself again with the „boring“ reality I knew too well before.
But, to my own surprise, some of these „weird“ ideas stubbornly refused to disappear completely. They lingered around in my mind and popped into my conscious flow of thoughts on all sorts of occasions. I tried to ignore them, but they still denied my requests for deletion.
In some weird way it seemed that I was just not done with them. So I started to spend some time thinking about their meaning. How they could be interpreted in the context of „normal“ reality. It took several months until I could uncover their secrets.
Now, many years later, it is clear that exactly these psychotic visions were able to completely change my view of the world. In the psychiatric hospital I was taught to be mindful regarding my world view. That, if everybody around me seemed to be crazy, it was in fact much more likely that it was me who is crazy.
This is also a simple definition of craziness: if you are not „normal“ like everybody else, you are probably nuts.
But there is another, far more convincing definition of craziness:
„The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.“
- Albert Einstein
And, adopting this definition, I tend to see things differently. I believe it is - I'm really sorry - in fact you guys who are completely mad. I know that you are laughing now. That you think „of course this is not the case, it’s clearly him who has lost his mind“. But, very interestingly, it is exactly this, your reaction right now which proves my point. It’s exactly this - immediate rejection of this idea which ultimately makes it’s realization possible.
Everybody does this, not only you. But why?
There are several reasons for this:
- We are social animals. We have a very strong desire to belong to a group and try to avoid becoming outsiders at any cost
- We instinctively consider a large group to be more competent than ourself (if you want to know more about this, read this article about the Asch Conformity Experiments)
- We always try to be on the „winning side“. It is much easier to achieve our goals if we are supported by a large group.
These cognitive biases are also known under the name bandwagon effect.
I know about them for a long time. But before my mental health episode I could have never imagined to what monstrous extent they actually take effect.
It's not the first time in history.
“If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon creation, I should have recommended something simpler.”
- Alfonso X of Castile (13th century)
Alfonso was an astronomer. And he was highly frustrated by the complexity of his calculations of celestial motions using a method called epicylces. But it never dawned on him that the serious mathematical challenges he faced did not come from a flaw in nature but from himself misunderstanding it: his fundamental assumption that the earth was in the centre of the universe was - though theologically flattering - simply wrong.
Today, our social life is mostly defined by two large groups. The right are trying to convince everybody that evil has to be fought with violence in the form of detention and war. And that this violence is - in the form of existential threat - even a good thing (!) because it makes people move their lazy butts faster. Does this really make any sense to you?
Maybe not. This is why we also have the left, who believe that evil is not good and therefore must be fought (!). This is why they promote the construction of a powerful counter-evil which is allegedly required to force (!) people to be good. Does that really make more sense? Maybe not.
In fact most people are not very convinced. This is why they alternate between these two ideologies for ages. If the left fail - which is inevitable - they will give the right another chance (and the other way round). Again and again. Perfectly satisfying Einstein’s requirements for insanity.
Could it be that people are actually not evil just like that? That they would actually prefer to be good and fair? That the evil we observe everywhere nowadays is rather the result of the fact that, if several billion lunatics try to build a great „funny farm“ for themselves, the result does not necessarily need to be funny?
I feel a bit lonely these days. If you take some time to look into this problem too, I'd appreciate very much. Thanky you for reading.
Image: Shutterstock / Atish Lowanshi (Holi festival in India - perfect!)
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