Thursday, April 3, 2014

The Physicists: Insane or Brilliant?

         This reading is the one that I have enjoyed the most this far.  The entire time through reading it, I was unsure of who was really sane and who was not.  Even when the three physicists were admitting their “true” identities, I was questioning rather they were just brilliantly insane.  Although I do believe that the story resoluted this conundrum fairly clearly, the one that I believe to be of interesting topic is that of Frau Doktor.   What she really the insane one? I believe that she showed signs of both brilliance and insanity? Then there is also the age old question, can you really be one without being both?
            First, I will begin with the side of the argument that says she is sane.  For her to be sane means she is crazy smart and manipulative.  How can one be crazy, but yet for this intertwining plan?  She is a strategists.  She confirmed her suspicions of the true identity of the three by getting the nurses to pretend to figure out their sanity, and when they killed them all it confirmed her story.  (Side note: Why would the nurses do this? Unquavering loyalty? Ignorance? AND if the three men were so smart, why did they not see the 3 oddly coincidental situations?)  This also open the opportunity for her to infiltrate the policemen  hidden as attendants.  She also shows sanity just by knowing the significance of Mobius’s work.
            However, all these things are true, but would a sane person really believe that they are the handmaiden of King Solomon (who is has had thousands of girlfriends) and was hand selected to be the new “God”? I really do not think so.  Furthermore, she truly believes that with these three physicists, along with other funds, that she is going to create a new galaxy.  So if she is insane, is this just another satire- being the only insane person in the asylum is the head of it, not the residents?

            I, personally, am going to fall right smack dab in the middle of this debate.  I think to be truly genius, you must be a little crazy.  Why? Because if you thought the same way as everyone else you would come to the same conclusions as everyone else.  To truly be able to open your mind to something completely new, your mind is open to everything which, I imagine, makes you seem a little nuts.

3 comments:

  1. I like your thought that she was both crazy and sane. When I was reading this, I thought that she was power hungry and did anything she had to in order to gain more power. You make a good point when you say that brilliance and insanity go hand in hand.

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  2. This play is an excellent representation of the fine line between genius and insanity, and you make a great point about how this relationship may work in reality.

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  3. I thought the same thing you did while reading this. I was confused at points as to who was who and whether or not they were actually insane or not. However, I didn't consider them to be both. I liked the way you showed how the two could be intertwine.

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