# The definition of insanity



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I think it was Einstein who said "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing many times and expecting different results."

Well, my computer shut down today. So I tried turning it back on with the power button, didnt work, tried it again, didnt work again, tried it a third time, it suddenly worked and turned back on.

No wonder that technology is making us (literally) insane.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Generally you have to leave it for a while if that happens. 10 minutes is a good amount of time.

And if you don't believe me, I used to work in IT! I actually have Cisco NetAcad certification, but I never received my certificate because the centre was run by the council, meaning the everything was handled very poorly. For this reason and many others I find that people have a much better chance of driving me insane than technology ever will.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> Generally you have to leave it for a while if that happens. 10 minutes is a good amount of time.
> 
> And if you don't believe me, I used to work in IT! I actually have Cisco NetAcad certification, but I never received my certificate because the centre was run by the council, meaning the everything was handled very poorly. For this reason and many others I find that people have a much better chance of driving me insane than technology ever will.


Illtry that next time XD There's no reason not to believe you.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

violadude said:


> I think it was Einstein who said "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing many times and expecting different results."
> 
> Well, my computer shut down today. So I tried turning it back on with the power button, didnt work, tried it again, didnt work again, tried it a third time, it suddenly worked and turned back on.
> 
> No wonder that technology is making us (literally) insane.


Some of the folk on here could drive anybody round the bend!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

violadude said:


> I think it was Einstein who said "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing many times and expecting different results."


Eh? When I go compose I often to the same thing many times and expect different results. For example, the other day when I was writing some sketches to a symphony, I wrote a rhythm that I planned on writing again later in the movement but _backwards._ I try to write it backwards and fail. I try again seven or eight more times before I realise that I have written a non-retrogradeable rhythm.

How I felt: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Glad to see you're back.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Here's my definition: When a baseball player signs for more money than the entire National Endowment for the Arts yearly budget.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Does talking to yourself in silence with at least two different voices count?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

kv466 said:


> Does talking to yourself in silence with at least two different voices count?


Depends on how wealthy you are. Somewhere there the diagnosis becomes 'eccentric'.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Eh? When I go compose I often to the same thing many times and expect different results. For example, the other day when I was writing some sketches to a symphony, I wrote a rhythm that I planned on writing again later in the movement but _backwards._ I try to write it backwards and fail. I try again seven or eight more times before I realise that I have written a non-retrogradeable rhythm.
> 
> How I felt: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH











"I told you so"


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> I used to work in IT!


To add to that, the above is the real cause of insanity; office work.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> a non-retrogradeable rhythm.


No such thing, try again.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

violadude said:


> I think it was Einstein who said "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing many times and expecting different results.".


However true it is, it wasn't said by Einstein. (And, let's face it, it is a bit simple for someone with a mind like Einstein's.) As Wikiquote (usually reliable) says: "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." However, I would point out that it is a variant of an NLP presupposition so might date from as far back as the mid seventies.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

violadude said:


> I think it was Einstein who said "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing many times and expecting different results."
> 
> Well, my computer shut down today. So I tried turning it back on with the power button, didnt work, tried it again, didnt work again, tried it a third time, it suddenly worked and turned back on.
> 
> No wonder that technology is making us (literally) insane.


power buttons can be defective. if the computer shuts down without crashing, you may have a power problem. waiting doesn't do anything to a computer, unless in some rare cases where a cold boot could be beneficial when waiting for damaged memory to clear out.


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

violadude said:


> I think it was Einstein who said "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing many times and expecting different results."
> 
> Well, my computer shut down today. So I tried turning it back on with the power button, didnt work, tried it again, didnt work again, tried it a third time, it suddenly worked and turned back on.
> 
> No wonder that technology is making us (literally) insane.


I think that what you might need to do is to have the battery on your motherboard replaced. It sounds as though it's almost dead. This is a cheap, easy fix, so be sure to consider it before contemplating anything more drastic.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

Fsharpmajor said:


> I think that what you might need to do is to have the battery on your motherboard replaced. It sounds as though it's almost dead. This is a cheap, easy fix, so be sure to consider it before contemplating anything more drastic.


nothing is cheap (read not expensive) in an apple computer.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

violadude said:


> I think it was Einstein who said "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing many times and expecting different results."
> 
> Well, my computer shut down today. So I tried turning it back on with the power button, didnt work, tried it again, didnt work again, tried it a third time, it suddenly worked and turned back on...


Well, it's probably better than beating your car with a tree branch if it doesn't work :lol:



> ...
> 
> No wonder that technology is making us (literally) insane.


Which is not new - _Fawlty Towers_, from which that infamous clip was taken from, was made in the 1970's...


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Definition of insanity? This (take note of the few audience members, I feel sorry for them).

_Friendly Health Warning: Do Not Turn Up Your Volume Too Loud_


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Klavierspieler said:


> No such thing, try again.


Well, it would completely stuff up the music if I tried again. I could not and will not try to write it backwards again.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

kv466 said:


> Does talking to yourself in silence with at least two different voices count?


Bump.

No, while it is promising, it is really those third and fourth voices which begin to qualify, especially when they are arguing between themselves -- uh, wait, isn't that a fugue?


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## micfuh (Dec 17, 2013)

Professor at university that couldn't get the record player to work for final audio exam. He pushed and turned every knob but the damn thing would not work. Now, we all sat there knowing the problem but we wanted to see if our "professor" could figure it out. No such luck so he went to find a technician to help solve the major issue of the day. The tech man arrives, looked at the record player and he solved the problem by......plugging it in! If that isn't insanity then it clearly must be stupidity. We could see it wasn't plugged in but in offering to point out the problem we were told to "SHUT UP!".


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