Practicing Temporary Madness Over Permanent Sanity

“I think we all have a little bit of that beautiful madness that keeps us walking when everything around us is so insanely sane.” ~Julio Cortazar

Sometimes you must sow a little madness to gain a little sanity.

In a world of batshit “sane” people hellbent on destroying their bodies by polluting their air, water, food, and minds, we need more people capable of being numinously “insane” by healing through countercultural reconditioning.

We do this first by learning how to gain from pain over comfort, second by learning how to gain from humility over hubris, third by learning how to gain from humor over power, fourth by learning how to gain from curiosity over certainty, and fifth by learning how to keep the Truth Quest ahead of the “truth.” Let’s break it down.

1.) Gaining from pain over comfort:

“A man needs a little madness, or else he never dares cut the rope and be free.” ~Nikos Kazantzakis

The line between courage and madness is thin. Toe the line. Dare yourself to be daring. Comfort is overrated. Pain is underrated. Use the pain of life to sharpen you into a fine instrument.

This idea aligns with modern psychological concepts like antifragility, where controlled exposure to stress strengthens systems, whether biological or mental. By “tipping the scales toward pain,” we condition ourselves to find joy in simplicity.

Adopting an antifragile approach is embracing integrity despite entropy. It’s struggling toward human flourishing regardless of obstacles. It’s choosing effort and striving over comfort and complacency. An antifragile person learns how to benefit from shocks; to thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stress. They love adventure, risk, and uncertainty, knowing that such an open disposition plants the seed of a well-lived life.

Your potential antifragility craves self-discipline. It yearns for it with a primal thirst. Honor it. Give it direction. Fragility is a failed state. Comfort is stagnation. The temporary madness of self-improvement always comes at the expense of self-preservation for the benefit of self-mastery.

2.) Gaining from humility over hubris:

“There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.” ~Michel de Montaigne

A defeat of the false self is a defeat more triumphant than a victory.

When you are humble, you can admit that you are fallible, imperfect, uncertain, and prone to mistakes. Humility gives you the courage to admit when you are wrong.

Without humility you’re more likely to fall victim to cognitive dissonance. Without humility you’re more likely to be blinded by faith and stuck in hand-me-down ideologies and outdated traditions. You’re more likely to be clouded by pride. Self-pity overpowers your ability to empower yourself. Ego reigns supreme and edges out Soul.

Humility brings you back down to earth. It unravels the roots, uncovers the bones, and strikes at the core of the human condition. It reveals the wizard behind the curtain was always you. It transforms your halo into a mortal coil. It gets you out of your own way.

You free yourself to unlearn what you have been deceived into learning. To unwash the brainwash. To dig up your humanness, your wholeness, your primal providence, which has been buried under multiple layers of cultural conditioning.

Use humility like a sword to cut through the bullshit of yourself. Use it to destroy illusion and murder delusion. Use it to unsettle your settled mind, to shock your chakras, and to reevaluate all your values. Use it to slit the throat of your false self.

Tragedy is an opportunity not an obstacle. Dark circumstances are a secret doorway to hidden light. Hardship, resistance, tragedy, defeat, these are fuel for the fearless. These are whetstones for warriors. These are the steppingstones for Overmen. Humility is disciplined annihilation.

As Pema Chodron said, “Only to the extent that we can expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.”

3.) Gaining from humor over power:

“I smell in disorder the outhouse of order.” ~Stanley Moss

In a world often driven by the relentless pursuit of power, there’s a quieter, more subversive force at play: humor. The will to humor, unlike the will to power, doesn’t seek to dominate or control but to illuminate, connect, and liberate. Humor thrives in disorder and madness, exposing the absurdities of rigid hierarchies and offering a path to wisdom that power alone cannot provide.

The will to power is a drive to assert dominance, to shape the world in one’s image. It builds empires, enforces order, and demands obedience. Yet, this pursuit often breeds conflict and alienation, leaving little room for joy or genuine human connection. Humor, by contrast, dismantles pretension. It pokes holes in the grandiose facades of authority, revealing the human frailties beneath. A well-timed joke can defuse tension, foster empathy, and remind us of our shared absurdity.

What do we gain from prioritizing humor over power? For one, resilience. Humor allows us to face life’s chaos with grace, finding meaning in the madness. It also fosters creativity, inviting us to see the world from unexpected angles. Unlike power, which often demands conformity, humor celebrates the quirky, the imperfect, the mad, and the disordered.

Most importantly, humor builds bridges. Where power isolates, laughter unites, reminding us that we’re all stumbling through the same absurd existence. Humor is a lifeline that connects our terrible madness with the beautiful madness of others.

By embracing the will to humor, we don’t abandon ambition or influence. Instead, we temper them with humility and joy, recognizing that true strength lies not in ruling others but in laughing along with them. In a world obsessed with order and sanity, humor’s disorder and beautiful insanity is a radical act—one that might just save us from ourselves.

4.) Gaining from curiosity over certainty:

“You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” ~Robin Williams

This ‘spark of madness’ is a gateway to creativity, discovery, and a richer understanding of the world. By choosing curiosity over certainty, we can harness this madness to break free from the confines of rigid thinking and unlock new possibilities.

Permanent sanity, often equated with predictability and control, can stifle growth. It leans on blind certainty and the assumption that we already know enough, and that the world is as it seems. This mindset builds walls, shutting out questions and dismissing the unknown. But life is rarely so tidy. Clinging to certainty risks stagnation, as we repeat the same patterns, blind to the beauty of what lies beyond.

Temporary madness, by contrast, is a deliberate dive into the unknown, driven by curiosity’s restless hunger. It’s the scientist chasing a wild hypothesis, the artist seeing shapes in chaos, or the dreamer asking “what if?” This madness isn’t reckless; it’s purposeful. It invites us to suspend judgment, to play with ideas, and to explore without fear of being wrong. In these moments, we tap into Williams’ spark, letting it light up new perspectives.

What do we gain from this practice? Curiosity-driven madness fosters innovation, as history’s greatest minds—from Einstein to da Vinci—knew well. It builds resilience, teaching us to embrace uncertainty rather than fear it. Most importantly, it keeps us alive to wonder, reminding us that the world is vast and full of surprises. Unlike certainty, which narrows, curiosity expands, making room for joy and awe.

To practice temporary madness, we must nurture this spark. Ask questions without needing immediate answers. Follow a whim, read something strange, or imagine the impossible. Let curiosity lead, even if it feels unsteady.

In a culture that demands we have it all figured out, choosing temporary madness is an act of courage. It’s a refusal to let our spark flicker out. By diving into curiosity, we honor Williams’ wisdom, keeping our madness alive to illuminate the world in ways being certain never could.

5.) Gaining from keeping the Truth Quest ahead of the “truth”:

“Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.” ~Cervantes

The tug-o-war rope between life and death, finitude and infinity, darkness and light, pain and passion, mortality and immortality, is held taut between madness and genius.

There is a terrible joy in embracing madness that the order-clingers and status quo junkies will never know. There’s a virtue in madness that the so-called sane cannot fathom. As Jung said, “In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.”

Keeping the Truth Quest ahead of the “truth” means approaching life with a willingness to ask hard questions, challenging assumptions, and embracing the discomfort of not having all the answers—knowing that the pursuit itself is what sharpens our understanding of the world, not necessarily our understanding of the world.

It means prioritizing the ongoing pursuit of understanding over clinging to fixed or dogmatic beliefs about what is true. It’s about valuing the process of questioning, exploring, and seeking knowledge over accepting a static, predefined version of “truth” as final. The journey toward truth—driven by curiosity, skepticism, and open-minded inquiry—is more valuable than any single claim or conclusion that might be labeled as “the truth.”

The Truth Quest embodies a mindset of continuous learning and humility, recognizing that what we believe to be true today may evolve with new evidence or perspectives. It stands in contrast to the lowercase "truth," which can represent rigid convictions, often shaped by bias, tradition, or incomplete information. By keeping the quest ahead, we stay ahead of the curve, and we remain open to revising our understanding, embracing uncertainty as a catalyst for growth rather than a threat.

It’s an authentic and humbling approach toward making the journey the thing. As Hermann Hesse said, “…it tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of all people who no longer want to lie to themselves.”

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About the Author:

Gary Z McGee, a former Navy Intelligence Specialist turned philosopher, is the author of Birthday Suit of God and The Looking Glass Man. His works are inspired by the great philosophers of the ages and his wide-awake view of the modern world.

This article (Practicing Temporary Madness Over Permanent Sanity) was originally created and published by Self-inflicted Philosophy and is printed here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Gary Z McGee and self-inflictedphilosophy.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this statement of copyright.