what if mad people are really sane?

Question

what if all the people who we as a society have deemed to be insane are really the normal ones and we are actually all mad?

Who was the first person who gave the criteria needed to pronounce someone as mad? what if really they were the mad one?

Answer 1

sane would be mad. silly

Answer 2

David Icke was/is deemed as mad, but abeit some of the green blob theory, some of what he says might have some truth. I think there is truth in everything, however small. You *could* also be deemed as mad to damage credibility and so you are not taken as seriously. Great if you don't want people to find out.

It is a perception. Perceptions can be altered by taking things you shouldn't etc. Sometimes madness is also an excuse for a lack of accepting responsibility. There are people with disorders like autism, but that doesn't make them mad, they just process information differently and their connections work differently. They can be deemed mad or they can learn to use what they have to their advantage.

It is easy to not have responsibility and deem someone as mad. I think everyone has a basic idea of right and wrong. You can blame it on bad teaching in some areas, but also you have a root core that is unchangeable IMHO.

It is whether you are all spirit or if your body can affect your perceptions and who you are (seems to me to be the case in this lifetime).

Alchohol for example can alter your perceptions and make you less questionable, but you still have a sense of right and wrong. If you cannot control a sense of right and wrong when drunk - don't get wasted. That is responsibility.

Answer 3

The term 'mad' is apt when referring to people with 'mental disorders'. Perhaps the term 'mental disorders', however, should be the term under discussion.

By and large, most 'mad' people are mad, or frustrated for being misunderstood. Many disorders diagnosed as mental in nature are actually biochemical imbalances in the 'mad' person's physical system.

One might also make the argument that being 'mad' is not necessarily a negative condition, but may be an opportunity to view ourselves and the world around us in a new or larger perspective. Whether or not this new vision is 'real' is a question for another time.

It is interesting to note that some cultures venerate those who choose or have been chosen to follow ascetic lifestyles in order to achieve levels of heightened awareness.

In our western culture, in the '60's and'70's, we simply called it 'getting high'.

Answer 4

OK, so, if your premise has validity, then the norms of the minority should govern the majority norms? What makes a person "insane" or "sane" if I am not mistaken, is based on his/her ability to perform functions of reason and the ability to control urges that can bring about harm to themselves and/or others, and can ascertain good and bad and what is acceptable and not acceptable behavior.

So, if hurting oneself and others is the norm..? Wait a minute. How about the ability to reason? To arrive at logical conclusions and make sound decisions based on facts and evidences? Do we not question a person's sanity if that person says he was abducted by an alien, which is not a normal, everyday occurrence? Do we not question the sanity of those that hear voices and reply to voices inside their heads? Do we not question those who act a little "peculiar" simply because the rest of society does not? Sure, we each have our own individual peculiarities and phobias (I am afraid of heights, rodents, insects and snakes...and electricity) but we can function in society without letting these idiosyncrasies interfere, no?

There comes a time when we simply must use common sense. If a person says he hears voices of dead people, we question their sanity but if someone says he/she hears voice of the dead and is making a profitable business out of it...? He gets a show on TV (John Edwards)? Or, if a person is of modest income or humble means, he is crazy but if he's another Howard Hughs, he's only said to be eccentric? Go figure!

I recall back during the 60s when I worked in a "ritzy" neighborhood supermarket and the manager would always order 15 or 20 cartons of each of 7-9 brands of cigarettes that we never sold; he did this for many years! Everyone thought he was crazy. But, he continued buying those cigarettes that no one bought. 15 cartons of Lucky Strikes. 20 cartons of Chesterfields regular unfiltered chest breakers. 20 cartons of Pall Mall regulars. One day, he was fired unexpectedly. They discovered that he had been stealing all of those cartons and returning them to the distributors and keeping the money, along with unopened boxes of jars of imported Russian caviar and other expensive delicacies. Two months later, he opened up a store by the corner of the supermarket and most of the long-time clients went to shop there... yeah, he was "crazy"... like a FOX... he was robbing the supermarket chain for about 12/13 years! Careful... it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck but it may be a gander!

Answer 5

Nothing is a problem until it affects your daily life or, I suppose, the lives of other people.
Generally speaking madness is something defined by the majority of people who consider themselves sane.
A transsexual hasn’t got a mental problem but people might think they have or treat them as if they have a disease so from that you might conclude that the majority of people will define madness as something they don’t really understand that makes you different from them.
For all we know the earth is just a speck of dust floating around in a light bulb that someone puts out at night.

Answer 6

quite right who indeed are we to question who's with us and who's not !!? but by the same token how do you define "madness " to the extent that you would find it difficult to either accept , or reject , some person that you are not sure if their capabilities can meet your requirements in life , for example if you went to a doctors or hospital ; would you rather be treated by someone who is "switched on " or indeed insane . where do you draw the line of acceptance . there are perfectly sane people doing day to day jobs with the suffering of bi - polar disorder --- but could you pick them in the street ??? pretty heavy stuff this !!!

Answer 7

Some of the Insane are really very intelligent.
They have a full understanding of the way life really is and it has effected them to the point of losing it.

Why? Because life on earth really could be the "garden of Edan" but greed prevents that from happening.

:o)
Jerry

Answer 8

Not *really* an answer, but what the hell...

Have you read Catch-22? The main protagonist, Yossarian, wants out of the war, so he decalres himself mad. The doctors say he can only declare himself mad if he is sane. Catch-22. :)

Answer 9

They started out sane, I'll agree. Everybody's a little bit crazy, but only some people become insane.

Answer 10

You know, I've always wondered about this.

Personally I believe that what they experience is actually real, and that they are just tapped into a different wavelength of life orsomething.

I used to take magic mushrooms alot, and the stuff I saw and felt was real. I mean I saw it and experienced it, and just because it faded away as they wore off, it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I believe we all have the power to tap into these different 'worlds' so to speak, the mind is a powerful thing.

Insane people just have a different reality to ours.

Answer 11

hmmmmmmmm , well , it depends from ones point of view.Lets say i am mad.I see myself as the normal person but the other ppl are mad /abnormal. I am OK you not OK. Its ones point of view. As one thinks i am the better driver than the other person , his too slow he cant drive , but he might say you cant drive.Its got to do with ones life experience , to be ex centric is better than been normal , that's boring to be normal-(depends on yourself).Well have you tried wearing your under wear on the out side?Look at superman....Its ok 4 him but try that yourself and look what happens.....U mad heheeheheh