science

The Insanity of Normality

The Insanity of Normality is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Insanity of Normality rather than just read about it. In short: The Insanity of Normality: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness is a book about the root causes of cruelty and violence written by psychoanalyst Arno Gruen. It is Gruen's answer to Freud about human destructiveness.

Key takeaways

The Insanity of Normality belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Insanity of Normality to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Insanity of Normality from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Insanity of Normality: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness is a book about the root causes of cruelty and violence written by psychoanalyst Arno Gruen. It is Gruen's answer to Freud about human destructiveness. According to Freud, human beings are born with an innate tendency to destruction and violence; in The Insanity of Normality, Gruen challenges that assumption, arguing instead that at the root of evil lies self-hatred, a rage originating in a self-betrayal that begins in childhood, when autonomy is surrendered in exchange for the "love" of those who wield power over us.

Edition details German editions: Der Wahnsinn der Normalität – Realismus als Krankheit. Eine grundlegende Theorie zur menschlichen Destruktivität; Kösel-Verlag, München 1987, ISBN 3-466-34178-7, 9th edition 7/1999, München, ISBN 3-423-35002-4 English editions: The Insanity of Normality: Understanding Human Destructiveness, ISBN 978-0-9669908-4-3, trade paperback, most recent English edition: March 2007, Human Development Books, Berkeley, CA, first English edition: 1992) Czech edition: Šílenství normality. Realismus jako choroba: Teorie o lidské destruktivitě, Lumír Nahodil, Praha, 2001, ISBN 80-902970-0-5 (translated from the 9th German edition) Hungarian edition: A normalitás tébolya – A realizmus mint betegség: elmélet az emberi destruktivitásról, Balázs István, Magyar Könyvklub, 2003, ISBN 9635478631 (translated from the 9th German edition)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Insanity of Normality

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Insanity of Normality claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Insanity of Normality before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Insanity of Normality ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Insanity of Normality

In research: The Insanity of Normality appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Insanity of Normality in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Insanity of Normality is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1987 non-fiction books, Psychology book stubs, Psychology books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Insanity of Normality outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Insanity of Normality in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Insanity of Normality means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Insanity of Normality out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Insanity of Normality in simple terms?

Why does The Insanity of Normality matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Insanity of Normality?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Insanity of Normality.