"In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule". -Friedrich Nietzsche.

submitted by HibikiBlackCaudillo from (izquotes.com)

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[–]HibikiBlackCaudillo[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Most of the manipulation the groups in power use comes from fooling the masses. This quote from Nietzsche touches upon the subject.

Nietzsche thought that despite the idea that individual people are usually thought as being "crazy", it is kind of common in history to see how degenerate groups of people can get.

[–]Welcome_To_1984 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Like how civilians of Germany were turned into Nazis. Just one example of many throughout history. It's way easier to manipulate people than it should be.

[–]MagicMike 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

A morality that is contrary to human nature is doomed.

[–]StillLessons 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Nature is inherently heterogeneous. When a group, party, or nation speaks, it must arrive at a "common policy". In order to do that, all the natural heterogeneity gets tossed out the window. But that heterogeneity is reality. Long story short, groups, parties and nations must eliminate all the useful information that is available to individuals in order to function. A policy that denies / ignores all the details - which are life itself - cannot help but be insane.

QED

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

he was crazy himself

[–]saidittwice 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

society decides what is sane

[–]trident765 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Relevant quote from Francis Bacon:

XXVII. Anticipations are sufficiently powerful in producing unanimity, for if men were all to become even uniformly mad, they might agree tolerably well with each other.

XXVIII. Anticipations again, will be assented to much more readily than interpretations, because being deduced from a few instances, and these principally of familiar occurrence, they immediately hit the understanding and satisfy the imagination; while, on the contrary, interpretations, being deduced from various subjects, and these widely dispersed, cannot suddenly strike the understanding, so that in common estimation they must appear difficult and discordant, and almost like the mysteries of faith.

Note about the language: Earlier in the book Bacon defines "anticipation" to mean stupid speculations determined by simplifying the reality, and "interpretation" means the actual truth.