Reality_Check:
Unless one wants to risk going the way of Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel, Alan Turing and others, I would lighten up on the philosophy and math approach to reality. These men all went insane and committed suicide pursuing infinities and other irrational ideas.
Mental disease, it seems, is a part of the general human condition, and not a flaw of the “philosophy and math approach to reality...pursuing infinities and other irrational ideas”.
Reality_Check:
Bill Gasarch picked persons from wikipedia’s list of Logicians, selecting from between the years 1845 and 1912 (cantor and Turig’s birthdays). He arrived at 5 out of 48 being a few axioms short of a complete set. That is a litttle over 10 percent of selected logicians are “insane.”
Well, I’m not sure how systematic an approach this is, but point taken. One’s occupation doen’t necessarily lead to insanity, or suicide. I did a (very) little research myself by querying your and my friend, Google.
The 5 Percent Doctrine
about 5 percent of our population is and always will be totally crazy. I don’t mean mentally ill. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, 26 percent of American adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/opinion/09collins.html?_r=0
Mental Health and Illness—How Many People Are Mentally Ill?
The Surgeon General’s report estimated that 20% of the United States population was affected by mental disorders and that 15% use some type of mental health service every year. Community surveys estimate that as many as 30% of the adult population in the United States suffer from mental disorders.
Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older or about one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people.
Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 who suffer from a serious mental illness. In addition, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada for ages 15-44. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. Nearly half (45 percent) of those with any mental disorder meet criteria for two or more disorders, with severity strongly related to comorbidity.
Reality_Check:
So if we consider the selected logicians as totally crazy, or having a serious mental disorder, then they are a greater percentage than the general population. If we consider them as just having a mental disorder, then they are doing pretty good.
Unless one wants to risk going the way of Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel, Alan Turing and others, I would lighten up on the philosophy and math approach to reality. These men all went insane and committed suicide pursuing infinities and other irrational ideas.
Mental disease, it seems, is a part of the general human condition, and not a flaw of the “philosophy and math approach to reality...pursuing infinities and other irrational ideas”.
Reality_Check: Unless one wants to risk going the way of Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel, Alan Turing and others, I would lighten up on the philosophy and math approach to reality. These men all went insane and committed suicide pursuing infinities and other irrational ideas.
GWERN: Arguing from a few famous anecdotes? Not a good approach, especially since more systematic approaches show rates similar to what one would expect of the general population: http://blog.computationalcomplexity.org/2011/07/disproofing-myth-that-many-early.html
Mental disease, it seems, is a part of the general human condition, and not a flaw of the “philosophy and math approach to reality...pursuing infinities and other irrational ideas”.
Computational Complexity http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090215000458AA8VWDo
Reality_Check: Bill Gasarch picked persons from wikipedia’s list of Logicians, selecting from between the years 1845 and 1912 (cantor and Turig’s birthdays). He arrived at 5 out of 48 being a few axioms short of a complete set. That is a litttle over 10 percent of selected logicians are “insane.”
Well, I’m not sure how systematic an approach this is, but point taken. One’s occupation doen’t necessarily lead to insanity, or suicide. I did a (very) little research myself by querying your and my friend, Google.
What is the percentage of mentally insane people in our population? About 1 percent of the general population is insane, but 20 percent of adults behind bars have mental health problems. ChaCha! http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-the-percentage-of-mentally-insane-people-in-our-population
What percent of the world population is insane? Estimated 26.2 percent of people ages 18 & older-about one in 4 adults-suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. http://www.chacha.com/question/what-percent-of-the-world-population-is-insane
The 5 Percent Doctrine about 5 percent of our population is and always will be totally crazy. I don’t mean mentally ill. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, 26 percent of American adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/opinion/09collins.html?_r=0
Mental Health and Illness—How Many People Are Mentally Ill? The Surgeon General’s report estimated that 20% of the United States population was affected by mental disorders and that 15% use some type of mental health service every year. Community surveys estimate that as many as 30% of the adult population in the United States suffer from mental disorders.
Read more: Mental Health and Illness—How Many People Are Mentally Ill? - Disorders, January, Distress, and Survey http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/2996/Mental-Health-Illness-HOW-MANY-PEOPLE-ARE-MENTALLY-ILL.html#ixzz28r5djv9h
Mental Disorders in America
Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older or about one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people.
Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 who suffer from a serious mental illness. In addition, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada for ages 15-44. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. Nearly half (45 percent) of those with any mental disorder meet criteria for two or more disorders, with severity strongly related to comorbidity.
In the U.S., mental disorders are diagnosed based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). http://www.thekimfoundation.org/html/about_mental_ill/statistics.html
1 in 5 Americans Suffers From Mental Illness http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/19/1-in-5-americans-suffer-from-mental-illness/
5% totally crazy 26% mental disorder 6% serious mental illness
Reality_Check: So if we consider the selected logicians as totally crazy, or having a serious mental disorder, then they are a greater percentage than the general population. If we consider them as just having a mental disorder, then they are doing pretty good.
Arguing from a few famous anecdotes? Not a good approach, especially since more systematic approaches show rates similar to what one would expect of the general population: http://blog.computationalcomplexity.org/2011/07/disproofing-myth-that-many-early.html
Mental disease, it seems, is a part of the general human condition, and not a flaw of the “philosophy and math approach to reality...pursuing infinities and other irrational ideas”.