Inspiration and The Necessity of Stimulating Madness
Relationship Between Inspiration And Madness
Socrates was the first moral philosopher having great influence on ancient and modern philosophy, he himself wrote nothing. He was constantly hearing an inner voice that he believed was God’s His love for wisdom was so unfathomable deep that he welcomed death as a penalty when Athenians accused him of “refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state”
Socrate said
If a man comes to the door of poetry untouched by the madness of the Muses, believing that technique alone will make him a good poet, he and his sane compositions never reach perfection, but are utterly eclipsed by the performances of the inspired madman.
Stimulating Madness By Cooperative Argumentative Interactions
Critical thinking can be provoked between individuals based on asking questions and answering them, finally giving rise to further ideas and uncover underlying presumptions
Socrates Method
- Breaks down a problem into a series of questions which are then sought to be answered.
- A statement can be considered true only if it cannot be proved wrong
The Perfect Madness
Perfect madness is a kind of curious madness with full intent to achieve love and wisdom. It is nothing to do with control freak or faking madness to look genius as they say
German saying, ‘Genie und Wahnsinn liegen oft dicht beieinander,’ which translates as: genius and madness are often at close quarters, and is similar, but not quite the same as the English phrase, ‘There is a fine line between genius and madness.’
Neuregulin 1, Madness, Genius, Psychosis and Depression
Neuregulin 1 gene plays a role in brain development but a variant of it is also associated with mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder — also influences creativity.
Genius and Madness
- Nikola Tesla: Unparalleled genius was a sufferer of mental instabilities, depressed and had a terrible time while distinguishing reality from his own fantasies
- Vincent Van Gogh: Artist with eccentric personality and erratic moods. He suffered from Bipolar disorder
- Ludwig Van Beethoven: Beethoven suffered from bipolar disorder
- Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln struggled with depression for a long time
How To Achieve Genius/Madness?
“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.” ― Aristotle
So let’s not struggle to achieve genius or madness, as you can’t breakdown this into a process. It is in the individual thing and you don’t need to erase that fine line between genius and madness. You need to blur the line of what we call reasonable, average, established reality. Let the rules destroy you while you destroy the rules of reality
I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people — Isaac Newton
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness — Friedrich Nietzsche
Keep in mind that insanity is not a requirement for genius, rather you need be extraordinarily creative, exercise original thinking -the kind that disrupts current thinking and inspires future generations
