Sanity is a performance we maintain to appear safe because social acceptance is about interaction rather than mental processes. Being seen as sane is a skill to learn which thoughts to share and which to keep private.
What if the difference between sanity and insanity isn't about what you think, but about what you show?
Theatre director Keith Johnstone argues that sanity is a pretence, a way we learn to behave. We keep this act up because we don't want others to reject us.
Most people secretly believe they're a little crazier than average.
They understand the energy it takes to maintain their own shields, but not what others expend. They know their own sanity is a performance, but when they meet others, they confuse the person with the role.
Sanity has nothing to do with how you think. It's about presenting yourself as safe.
For example, an old men wander around hallucinating visibly, but no one gets upset. The same behavior in a younger, more vigorous person would get them institutionalized. A Canadian study found that communities reject someone when their behavior becomes unpredictable.
Johnstone shares a case about a man who believed he had a fish in his jaw. This fish moved around and caused discomfort. When he told people, they thought him crazy, leading to violent arguments and hospitalizations. The fish remained. Eventually, someone suggested he stop telling people. After all, it was the quarrels getting him locked up, not the delusion itself. Once he kept it secret, he lived normally.
His sanity is like ours. We may not have a fish in our jaw, but we all have its equivalent.
When Johnstone explains that sanity is about interaction rather than mental processes, students laugh hysterically. They realize they've been suppressing thoughts for years, classifying them as insane. This is also why originality is being obvious.