The Problem with Einstein’s Famous ‘Insanity’ Definition
The following post is from Full Circle: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
Albert Einstein has a famous quote:
‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’
Is this quote true?
In my experience, not always.
In some cases, it’s true.
It’s accurate when the rules are strict.
Let’s imagine I’m placing a circular rock on a downward hill.
I’m expecting this rock to stay exactly where it is.
But each time, it keeps rolling down the hill.
I do this experiment over and over.
But each time, the rock gets pulled down.
After a certain point, a passerby comes and is like:
‘Fam, you need to stop doing that. Don’t you know about a thing called gravity?’
In this case, Einstein’s quote was accurate.
But where Einstein’s quote falls apart is when HIGH uncertainty is involved.
Imagine you’re going on a speed dating event with 10 girls.
You desperately need pickup lines.
You ask your buddy for suggestions.
He’s like:
‘I have the perfect one! Ask her if she works in Subway.’
You’re like:
‘Why?’
Your buddy responds with:
‘Because you’re giving me a footlong! Get it?’
Your buddy is cracking up at this joke.
However, you’re thinking:
‘This will never work!’
But time is running out.
So, you decide to go with this pickup line.
During the speed dating event, you try the pickup line on the first girl.
She is like:
‘No, I don’t work in Subway, why?’
You respond with:
‘Because you’re giving me a footlong!’
She slaps you on the face.
You think:
‘Okay, let me try again.’
You try again.
And the 2nd girl slaps you on the face.
You repeat this questionable pickup line over and over.
Up until this point, 7 girls have slapped you!
That’s when Einstein’s famous quote comes to your mind:
‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’
As you’re approaching the 8th girl, you are expecting to get slapped.
In a lackadaisical way, you ask:
‘Do you work in Subway?’
Enthusiastically, this girl responds with:
‘No, why?’
And you are like:
‘Because you’re giving me a footlong.’
Your face is getting ready to be slapped…
But instead of getting slapped, you hear a burst of laughter.
The girl says:
‘Wow, that was so funny and unexpected.’
What gives?
Why did you get such a DIFFERENT result from the IDENTICAL pickup line?
It’s because with people, high uncertainty is involved.
It’s difficult to predict anything.
Another example is a Youtuber who has been making videos for years.
1,000 of their videos are duds.
1 video blows up.
I do see where Einstein was coming from.
In many ways, he was spot on.
Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results is a sign of insanity.
In many ways, he was dead wrong.
Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results is not a sign of insanity….
Rather, it’s a sign of brilliance.
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