# The definition of insanity
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 3, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249 "2004-02-03T00:12:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@agiantdwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agiantdwarf)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/1 "2004-02-03T00:12:32Z")
I’ve heard from several sources that the “official” definition of insanity is something like: “repeating a process over and over again even though nothing has changed.” I’ve checked a couple dictionaries and none list anything close to that as a definition of insanity. What’s the straight dope on this?
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/2 "2004-02-03T00:37:10Z")
It’s certainly not the legal definition of insanity, so you won’t find it in a dictionary. It’s just a pithy saying that’s getting a lot of play lately (yesterday’s Dilbert, for example). You’re missing a key part of the definition: repeating the same thing over and over, and _expecting a different result._
I did a google on the phrase, and the closest to a source I could find was “motivational speakers”.
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### Author:  [@MinniePurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinniePurl)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/3 "2004-02-03T00:38:18Z")
What I’ve heard is “The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” It’s more of a pithy saying than an actual definition of insanity.
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/4 "2004-02-03T00:40:30Z")
There’s a habit of ‘the definition of’ jokes (for example - the definition of cruel - walking past an orphanage singing ‘where’s your momma gone’). This sounds like one of them.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/5 "2004-02-03T00:47:43Z")
FWIW, I most frequently hear this attributed to Thomas Jefferson, although the other day I overheard someone attributing it to Einstein.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/6 "2004-02-03T03:06:16Z")
I’ve always heard it as “one definition of insanity is…”, **not** “the definition of insanity is…”
And I’ve most heard it used in the context of chemical dependency.
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### Author:  [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/7 "2004-02-03T03:30:21Z")
Insanity isn’t a medical term, it’s a legal term. Insanity refers either to a mental condition that would either render one unfit to contract or that would serve to relieve the person so afflicted of culpability for criminal conduct. How insanity is defined is thus dependant on the laws of the jurisdiction, and whether any one person is insane or not is a question for a judge or jury. You can have a mental illness, even a severe one, and not be insane according to the laws of the jurisdiction, as was the case with Andrea Yates.
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### Author:  [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/8 "2004-02-03T07:35:53Z")
Yep. Take a look at the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the American Psychiatric Association’s handbook of mental disorders, and you won’t find “insanity”. Rather, you’ll find a list of specific psychological disorders, whose symptoms may or may not reflect the clichéd symptoms of “insanity” you see so often in movies and on TV.
Insanity’s a legal term and definitely a Hollywood term, but not a clinical psychology or psychiatric term.
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### Author:  [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/9 "2004-02-03T16:55:46Z")
While I agree that “insanity” has a specific legal definition (or actually several, depending on context and jurisdiction) and no specific medical definition, it’s also a lay term with a broader definition than the legal one. The quip in question seems like it gets at the heart of the matter, although it isn’t really a definition, but rather an example.
–Cliffy
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/10 "2004-02-03T17:20:37Z")
> [@MinniePurl](#):
>
> What I’ve heard is “The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” It’s more of a pithy saying than an actual definition of insanity.
I thought that was the definition of gambling. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/11 "2004-02-03T19:14:10Z")
Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
Damn, it’s the same result each time.
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/12 "2004-02-03T23:41:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
Yeah that’s silly.
> [@](#):
>
> Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
What?
> [@](#):
>
> Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
I don’t know. I think they took it with them.
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### Author:  [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/13 "2004-02-04T00:25:08Z")
Is it something to do with repeating the same thing over and over again?
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### Author:  [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/14 "2004-02-04T01:30:34Z")
Yeah, but, what if you suddenly get a different resultHooha!
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### Author:  [@RadioOrange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioOrange)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/15 "2004-02-04T02:04:43Z")
> [@Chicago Faucet](#):
>
> Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
>
> Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
>
> Repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
>
> Damn, it’s the same result each time.
But, maybe if you tried once more.
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### Author:  [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/16 "2004-02-04T02:39:35Z")
Erm, didn’t you know that everyone is insane?
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/17 "2004-02-04T02:45:37Z")
Sanity is a form of conformism - John Nash
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### Author:  [@Z\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Z_Al)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/18 "2004-02-04T04:06:19Z")
An interesting psychological study by Rosenhan, “On Being Sane in Insane Places,” deals with the issue of insanity and such. Do some googling and you’ll be intrigued. A great study.
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/19 "2004-02-04T06:57:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **Cliffy** :…it’s also a lay term with a broader definition than the legal one.
…So broad as to be virtually meaningless when discussing mental illness in lay terms.
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### Author:  [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/20 "2004-02-04T07:23:37Z")
So wouldnt this rule out Practicing for anything?
And wouldn’t we all go insane… by reading this post, over and over again, expecting a new reply?
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