Hacker News Reader

It is surprising to me that the quote: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." is from 1983 and not from Einstein. It fits so well as a (misguided) critique of quantum physics. The double slits experiment is indeed to do the same thing again and again, expecting different results.

View on HN

This has actually been traced back further to narcotics anonymous literature from 1981: http://www.nauca.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1981-11-Basic... .

It's likely that Rita Mae Brown was paraphrasing the literature in her novel.

End of p.11, para.5.

That isn’t the definition of insanity though. Just check any dictionary.

To save you time I checked up the definition of "definition" (Wordnik dictionary)

1. A statement of the meaning of a word, phrase, or term, as in a dictionary entry.

2. A statement or description of the fundamental character or scope of something.

3. The act or process of stating a precise meaning or significance; formulation of a meaning.

So, it could be the definition of insanity. Just not the dictionary definition. YW.

Then why say “the definition of” when it should actually be “a symptom of”? That’s what bothers me about this phrase. It sounds intellectual but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com