Madness: Hellenistic Behavior Or Insanity?
Madness is something rare in individuals, but in groups, parties, peoples, ages it is the rule. (Nietzsche, 1886)
The general idea of this quote is quite simple. We happen to find ourselves in a society where, if every member of said society were to be examined and tested, we would find him or her to be relatively sane, rational and good in nature. However, if we put all of these people in a group, and examine how this gathering would function collectively, we would find such erratic behaviour and insanity among this group that we would, very likely, be frightened by these results.
To quote Jeffrey Kluger from TIME magazine: “If the entire human species were a single individual, that person would long ago have been declared mad. The …show more content…
One of many types of insanity is schizophrenia, which often results in delusions, and auditory hallucinations, such as many voices talking in one’s head. This could symbolize our society, for we live in a world where there are almost always at least two groups of thought about significant issues (abortion, stem cell research, euthanasia, war), symbolizing a collective being which is always disagreeing and arguing with itself. As Abraham Lincoln said, “a house divided upon itself cannot stand.”
The topic of peer pressure must also be addressed. People will do in a group things they would never dream of doing on their own. If you give a baton to a teenager, and tell her to break a window and steal something, chances are she will not do it. Place her in a situation where a large amount of people are performing this action, and she is much more likely to do it. Individuals do not often go out and kill each other, but when it is time for war, and they are part of an army doing this exact thing, they will gladly go out and fight each …show more content…
For example, in the beating and murder of Reena Virk, do you believe that any of the six children would have committed this act on their own had Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski not led them into committing the act?
It must be recognised that living in a community pushes us to do not only acts of great evil, but also acts of great good as well. We willingly donate our time, our money, and even our own blood in order to strengthen our community and the many people living within it. Call me crazy, but I can see no way that such behaviour displaying our capacity of good toward others can rationally be considered
The general idea of this quote is quite simple. We happen to find ourselves in a society where, if every member of said society were to be examined and tested, we would find him or her to be relatively sane, rational and good in nature. However, if we put all of these people in a group, and examine how this gathering would function collectively, we would find such erratic behaviour and insanity among this group that we would, very likely, be frightened by these results.
To quote Jeffrey Kluger from TIME magazine: “If the entire human species were a single individual, that person would long ago have been declared mad. The …show more content…
One of many types of insanity is schizophrenia, which often results in delusions, and auditory hallucinations, such as many voices talking in one’s head. This could symbolize our society, for we live in a world where there are almost always at least two groups of thought about significant issues (abortion, stem cell research, euthanasia, war), symbolizing a collective being which is always disagreeing and arguing with itself. As Abraham Lincoln said, “a house divided upon itself cannot stand.”
The topic of peer pressure must also be addressed. People will do in a group things they would never dream of doing on their own. If you give a baton to a teenager, and tell her to break a window and steal something, chances are she will not do it. Place her in a situation where a large amount of people are performing this action, and she is much more likely to do it. Individuals do not often go out and kill each other, but when it is time for war, and they are part of an army doing this exact thing, they will gladly go out and fight each …show more content…
For example, in the beating and murder of Reena Virk, do you believe that any of the six children would have committed this act on their own had Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski not led them into committing the act?
It must be recognised that living in a community pushes us to do not only acts of great evil, but also acts of great good as well. We willingly donate our time, our money, and even our own blood in order to strengthen our community and the many people living within it. Call me crazy, but I can see no way that such behaviour displaying our capacity of good toward others can rationally be considered