Definition of insanity

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by diddy

If you made a mistake, and then did not repeat that mistake later, you are not "doing the same thing". Doing the same thing over again would require you to repeat the mistake and hope for things to magically change from noise to music. That's insanity.

I suppose that it is perspective. If I play, for example, Scotland The Brave and I miss a not, I play it again with the expectation that this time I will not miss the note. Since missing the note the first time was not intentional, I really am doing the exact same thing and hoping for a different outcome - fewer missed notes. Well leave tuning and tempo out of it for now. Basically, to practice, I play slowly, in the hopes the my fingers will remember the repitiion (muscle memory) and hope that eventually the outcome is that I can play without effort.

I see not missing the note as a different outcome, not doing something differently.

[SoToasty]

Originally Posted by DemonWolf

I suppose that it is perspective. If I play, for example, Scotland The Brave and I miss a not, I play it again with the expectation that this time I will not miss the note. Since missing the note the first time was not intentional, I really am doing the exact same thing and hoping for a different outcome - fewer missed notes. Well leave tuning and tempo out of it for now. Basically, to practice, I play slowly, in the hopes the my fingers will remember the repitiion (muscle memory) and hope that eventually the outcome is that I can play without effort.

I see not missing the note as a different outcome, not doing something differently.

But there is a difference. You are making a conscious effort to not miss the note you missed before. Say for instance, you start your practice, and you get the first 10 notes right, but miss the 11th. The next time through, you will be concentrating more on the 11th note than you were before, or possibly you will slow down the tempo to make it easier for you. When you hit the 11th note solid several times in a row, you then move further through the score, and repeat the process. Although it is minor change in the way you do things, it is a change. You are not doing things the same way over and over and expecting a different outcome. You are doing MOST of the process over and over with a very small change to the process to effect a different outcome.

[Dr. Winston O'Boogie]

Originally Posted by ParaDiddle

That's what's known as scientific proof, my friend. Gotta go, there's a drummer at the door.

- P

What does that have to do with musicians?

[ParaDiddle]

Originally Posted by Dr. Winston O'Boogie

What does that have to do with musicians?

Ouch!

That'll teach me for trying to set up my own joke. I'll just keep trying until I get a different outcome.

- P

[Liam21]

You know I was wondering, and this is the very reason I got an account on this site in the first place, about Einstein's definition of insanity. You know, he defined insanity as 'repeating the same actions and expecting different results'. Now as much as this has been frequently paraphrased, I don't believe I've ever seen a citation or a source for the original quote, or that such a saying was ever written or uttered by Albert Einstein.

So my question ultimately is: is the Einstein's definition of insanity quote genuinely from him? If so, what is its original form?

[Psihala]

According to this very long Wiki article, no, it isn't an actual Einstein quote.

- The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

- Variously misattributed to figures also including Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain. The earliest known occurrence, and probable origin, is from a 1981 text from Narcotics Anonymous.

[Brad from Georgia]

Or, as Votaire put it in his Réflexions sur la jonque,

Lorsque l'on effectue une action, atteint un mauvais résultat, puis répète l'action plusieurs fois attendent un meilleur résultat, on est un peu fou de singe, non?

[Liam21]

Originally Posted by Psihala

According to this very long Wiki article, no, it isn't an actual Einstein quote.

Obviously a wiki article probably wouldn't hold up as a source alone, but it's definitely a start.