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Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Often attributed to Einstein; first traced to 1981

MindScience

The story behind the card

The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, the Princeton University Press collection of his sayings, lists this line among those wrongly credited to him. Its earliest known uses date from 1981, twenty-six years after his death: in October a Knoxville newspaper quoted it from a meeting of Al-Anon, a support group for families of alcoholics, and in November it appeared in a Narcotics Anonymous pamphlet. It grew up in recovery groups, where it describes the loop of addiction; Einstein's name was attached later.

Türkçe oku
Delilik, aynı şeyi tekrar tekrar yapıp farklı bir sonuç beklemektir.
Genellikle Einstein'a atfedilir; izi 1981'e uzanıyor

Princeton University Press'in yayımladığı Einstein söz derlemesi The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, bu cümleyi yanlışlıkla ona mal edilen sözler arasında sayar. Sözün bilinen en eski kullanımları 1981'den, yani Einstein'ın ölümünden yirmi altı yıl sonrasından: Ekim ayında Knoxville'de bir gazete, alkol bağımlılarının aileleri için kurulmuş destek grubu Al-Anon'un bir toplantısında söylenen bu cümleyi aktardı; kasımda da cümle Adsız Narkotikler'in bir broşüründe yer aldı. Söz, bağımlılığın kısır döngüsünü anlatmak için bağımlılıktan kurtulma gruplarında yaygınlaştı; Einstein'ın adı ona sonradan eklendi.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Insanity
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