[MD] of sanity and intellect

[X Acto]

Insanity as an absence of common characteristics is also demonstrated 
by the Rorschach ink-blot test for schizophrenia. In this test, randomly 
formed ink splotches are shown to the patient and he is asked what he sees. 
If he says, 'I see a pretty lady with a flowering hat,' that is not a sign 
of schizophrenia. But if he says, 'All I see is an ink-blot,' he is showing 
signs of schizophrenia. The person who responds with the most elaborate lie 
gets the highest score for sanity. The person who tells the absolute truth 
does not. Sanity is not truth. Sanity is conformity to what is socially 
expected. Truth is sometimes in conformity, sometimes not.
Phaedrus had adopted the term 'static filter' for this phenomenon. He saw 
that this static filter operates at all levels. When, for example, someone 
praises your home town or family or ideas you believe that and remember it, 
but when someone condemns these institutions you get angry and condemn him 
and dismiss what he has said and forget it. Your static value system filters 
out the undesirable opinions and preserves the desirable ones.
But it isn't just opinions that get filtered out. It's also data. When 
you buy a certain model of car you may be amazed at how the highways fill 
up with other people driving the same model. Because you now value this 
model more you now see more of it.
Lila ch26