Nature of insanity

Warning: Dont take this too seriously. This is a product of a restless mind which creates and recreates ideas again and again. There is no concept of final sketch here because the pleasure lies in drawing, and this particular line at the canvas, like other lines, is liable to be erased in future in order to develop a better picture. The writer is aware of the dyanamic character of his thoughts but the readers sometimes fail to appreciate this simple point.

So, lets play with this idea with full spirit but remember not to lose the control.

ALL OF US ARE INSANE.

Okay, let me bulid my argument. But you know the conclusion beforehand so you are in a better position to understand my intentions and refute any argument which is driven by emotions rather than reason.

All of us are different. I hope you would agree. Each one of us is a living testimony of the incredible creativity of nature.

But we can categorize the whole human race into two classes: Man and Woman. You invariably fall into one of these categories.

(There are, however, exception to every rule. I hope you are not with exceptional qualities. :)

I am a man. Let me assume that you are also a man for the simplicity of argument.

Now how can it be possible! After all there are many differences between us. I am 5'11'' with a dark complexion and slim figure and other physical and mental characteristics. You can be anything but the exact replica of mine. And each one of us claims to be a man. How is it possible? What is 'Man' then?

Is it a superset and each one of us is a sub-set of this superset? May be. But I am not sure. Because then none of us can claim to be a man. Each one of us would be an incomplete man. Or none of us would be a man.

Is it a basic class and each one of us is a derived class of this basic class? We inherit all the masculine qualities and in addition to that we have some more individual qualities which add distinctive colours to our personalities. So we are not only men but something more. We are unique. Again I am not sure. Because here we assume the absolute absence of that colour(or colours) in others' personalities which makes me distinct from other men. Also, I am not entirely convinced with it. This view seems to be extreme.

Let's try to visualize the ideal Man. We see something. Dont we? We see a person with some physical features. With some (qualitative) features like head and limbs and etc etc. With some (quantitative) features like some height and some weight and etc etc. We'll study the quantitative features only because any absence or variation in qualitative features is considered animal or exceptional(handicapped, eunuch etc). We will ignore such special cases in the current discussion and concentrate on the general case. Though these quantitative features are dependent on geography and thus society(So the concept of the ideal Man is defined by society! Deja vu!) but let's take the case of your society only. In India the 'good' height is 5'10'' for a man whereas in US I guess it would be around 6'.

Now let's compare yourself with this ideal Man, in appearance. There are certain dissimilarities which make you different. Your height might be lesser than him. Your shoulders might not be that broad. Your tummy might be protruding out a bit. Leonardo Da Vinci has specified certain proportion for a male body. Your body might be out of proportion by that standard. There can be other differences based on some numbers that correspond to our corporal measurements. In addition to that we can take into account your voice, your gait, your eyesight etc also which are semi-quantitative in nature. Here too you deviate from the perfection (perceived by society). And the way we differ is very particular, very individual. These deviations from the standard or ideal make us unique in appearance.

Similarly, there would be an ideal mind or ideal masculine mind with a particular way of thinking and attitude. This again is not constant and varies with time in your society but lets take the case of contemporary society only.

Now comparison with this ideal mind with yours is not easy. To know about the ideal mind exactly is difficult. We have some idea but we can not visualize it. The degree of subjectivity is much more and so is the chance of dispute. To know our own mind is even more difficult. In fact our mind might disturb our understanding of our mind as well as of the ideal mind.

Communication doesnt help much because the meaning of words are also not objective. Let's take an interesting example. Suppose you show me a 'red' rose and tell me that the colour of this particular object is red. Now lets assume that I feel the sensation of 'blueness' when I see that red rose. I will associate this sensation with the colour 'red'. Whenever I would say 'red' I would mean 'blue' but that that would never arouse any suspicion in your mind regarding the inability my visual faculty. We can never experience the experience of others.

Also, our childhood experiences set our attitude towards most of the things. The same word can mean very differently for two individuals resulting a communication gap. The whole sense of morality, good and bad, permissible or not, practicable or not etc varies substantially across cultures. But we have already talked about this issue in our previous posts so let the matter rest.

There are many scopes of intricacies and thus possible avenues of deviation here. So lets assume that such an ideal mind exists and resides in the ideal body of our ideal Man. There would be then a standard thought process and emotional response for a given stimulation. Again we can appreciate that there are the qualitative as well as quantitative features of this ideal mind. If there is a variation in the qualitative features then that is considered to be an extreme or exceptional case(hardcore Insanity beacause of malfunctional brain). What we think is a reflection of the semi-qualitative feature and how we think is a manifestation of the quantitative feature.

Now there can be a comparison between the qualitative features of your mind with the ideal man's mind. How fast are you in calculation? How much does your memory contain? There is a term IQ which represent such quantitative faculties: How we think. Some people are considered to be more intelligent than others.

But the most interesting feature is what we think! Here I would like to say a word of caution. The most important thing is not what we think but that we are inclined to think that more than others. Our nature makes us see certain thing and not others, and for too long. I am pointing to the attitude which blow 'simple' things out of proportion. This involves more degree of subjectivity and individuality. For some of us certain things are more beautiful or important than that for others. We think too highly or too lowly of them. I am trying to explore the world of irrationality, the world of biases and prejudices based on our past and various experiences. We dispense our reason and behave sentimentally. We might exhibit more anger than expected in certain circumstances which might appear to be excessive to others. We might feel touchy about certain things. We might show phobia of something. We all have certain idiosyncracies which are sometimes repulsive or even revolting to others. As these things belong to the domain of emotions and not reason so the methods of rationality hardly works.

All of us have our own set of idiosyncracies. We would admit that we behave abnormally sometimes. But do we know when do we act like that? Do we know our nature of insanity?

The understanding of the nature of insanity is most important for human relationships. If you know the irrational side of a person then only you can say that you know the person. This is what we call understanding. In a relationship we develop understanding and reconcile ourselves with one another's irrational behaviours.

A coach examines the physique of an athlete and advises the best possible career for him or her depending on his or her physical capabilities and limitations. A teacher identifies the skills and IQ level of a student and counsells an appropriate career accordingly. We choose our career on the basis of things like what charms us and what gives us a sense of pride. We might hesitate to admit but it is very childish things that really motivates us. We never share our reverence for our childhood heroes and our fantasies to be like them but we all know that how silently, without saying a word, they lead us.

Similarly it is of supreme value to realize the emotional limitations of a person in order to nurture a stable and successful relation. We must know what is he or she touchy about. We must know what irritates a person and drive him or her mad. I believe human being is predominantly a reasonable creature but we must be human enough to grant 'emotional allowance' to others because we too need it sometimes. It is against social contract to be apathetically indifferent to others' emotional needs. Such an attitude would serve only the purpose of mutual alienation and nothing else.

It is also vital to understand our own nature of insanity. It demads a herculean effort and a lot of honest introspection. We must be aware of our irrational nature. Sometimes the right diagnosis is 50% elimination of the malady. We must know when do we behave unusually or abnormally. At least we would be able to admit our mistakes and sincerely apologize to the persons who we unknowingly hurt by bahaving like that.

Let me admit one of my insanities. I expect exclusivity in any realation which I consider meaningful. This makes me too vulnerable to be left unhurt. Often this impractical expectation makes me disappointed due to its unfulfilment. I tend to be possessive about the person I am related to. I want to get absolute attention and I dont want it to share with anyone. It increases to such an extent where that person feels suffocated and helpless. Again it is not the presence but its magnitude which is disturbing and which makes me insane. The same nature in limit, in proportion is not only agreeable but may be adorable for some because people feel valued and loved.

So I think that knowing a person means knowing his or her nature of insanity. This is what differentiates a person from others and so this is what is unique in him/her.