I got to thinking about sanity when I got up this morning. No particular reason, that’s just the type of person I am. I was just having one of those mornings where I wondered to myself, “Is this the day I finally go nuts?”
I’d like to think I’m not the only person who feels that way at times; who knows, maybe by the act of questioning if I’m going insane is the act of a rational mind.
But lets look at that for a moment. What precisely does “sane” mean in the first place?
Well, based on the definition in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:
1: proceeding from a sound mind : rational
2: mentally sound; especially : able to anticipate and appraise the effect of one’s actions
3: healthy in body
“Proceeding from a sound mind” sounds like an acid trip, it doesn’t especially tell me what the definition of sanity is. The second definition, about being able to anicipate the effects of our own actions… are they serious? How many of you know someone who has said that they were going to go do something, and you knew, without hesitation, that it was a bad idea? And we always say, “If I were you, I really wouldn’t do that.”
And what happens? They do it anyway. You were able to anticipate the effects of their actions, while they were not able to. Does that make them insane? No, of course not. It makes them not very perceptive, but that’s not what we’re debating right now.
Our third definition, “healthy in body” is just laughable, and I don’t feel the need to tear it apart. So, in reality, we’re left with a definition that requires a definition. Sanity is really and truly in the eye of the beholder. I’ve known plenty of “sane” people that had the poorest judgement I’ve ever seen in a human. I’ve seen people make horribly stupid mistakes and have the audacity to be surprised when everything goes wrong.
I’m not sure what I’m trying to say, other than maybe some day, people will learn to judge a person on more than just a bell curve and a societal image. That goes with everything, though, not just sanity.