Insanity?

[Orrex]

One of the internet's favorite quotes is that one wrongly attributed to Einstein, the one that's usually phrased like "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

Leaving aside the fact that Einstein didn't say it and that isn't the definition of insanity, let's explore a similar concept:

What does it mean when someone keeps trying different things but getting the same result (or non-result)? Is this another form of "insanity," at least according to the internet definition?


Why or why not?

[TheKentuckian]

1. Only if what works has been found and discarded.

Maybe not even then, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Certainly, repeating failure expecting success is at least faulty logic.

[Orrex]

2. Let me ask it this way:

If you've randomly tried 300 out of 1,000 available doors, and each of the 300 has led to your broom closet, is it reasonable or unreasonable to expect that door #301 will lead somewhere else?

[pipi_k]

3. I would say it's probably

a 50/50 chance that door #301 might lead somewhere else, so why not go for it...

but there are people out there...and we all know it, I think...who will keep opening door #1 over and over again expecting it to lead somewhere else. If this isn't insanity, then I don't know what it is...