Insane by Default

"Sanity is not statistical." - George Orwell in 1984

This quote is hard to write about for it suggests so much in so little words. It undermines the idea that there are strength in numbers by stating that one persons whole hearted belief in something is all that is needed for them to be sane. What's commonly accepted is that if other people accept what you believe as true you are bound to be sane and if I had my own private belief and no one else under the great blue sky agreed with I must be crazy. Orwell shows that our commonly used way of thinking is not true; that sanity isn't judged on the basis of peoples beliefs in you but your belief in yourself. It kills the theory by stating that there isn't strength in numbers, there is force in numbers. The strength that anyone would have to stand up to numerous others for what they believe is something magnificent. Like Joan of Arc, they were so ready to deem her crazy among other things but she stood tall and didn't let anyone tear her down. She refused to let her sanity be statistical. No one was going to tell her she was crazy and after her death she was seen as a hero.(quite ironic)

Somehow the idea that sanity is not statistical reminds me of another quote that you are innocent until proven guilty. But this proves to be false. If I know that I killed a man I am guilty whether a group of jurors tell me I am guilty or not. I am the only source of truth, so sanity can not be determined by four men's beliefs it's determined by one. Who's to say I'm crazy because I see a pony in my yard and three people don't? Galileo was considered crazy by many believers of the Roman Catholic church in his belief that the earth revolved around the sun but he defended himself no matter what the cost. He was ultimately imprisoned. He wasn't crazy but in that case his sanity was statistical. Just because enough others hadn't believed in that theory at the time he was punished. Many people do stupid things in order to be apart of a group. They never once considered the fact that maybe they are sane and don't need to be apart of that grorp to feel sane. Things like mass suicides prove that sanity cannot be statistical. It must be individualism that makes sanity a possibility.