Insanity Isn't Repetition
On This Piece
The phrase "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results" gets repeated constantly — but it's not the definition of insanity, and it's not even good advice. Science repeats experiments. Societies revisit the same challenges. Iteration is how progress works. This piece corrects the misuse of the phrase and, drawing on Heraclitus, makes the case that what looks like repetition is almost always something more interesting.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
That sounds right… but it’s not.
That’s not the definition of insanity.
Insanity isn’t repetition — it’s a breakdown in rational judgment.
And if repetition were insanity, then almost everything we do to solve problems would qualify.
Science repeats experiments.
Societies revisit the same challenges.
We try again — and adjust — until we get it right.
That’s not insanity.
That’s how progress works.
But there’s a deeper problem with the phrase.
It assumes we can actually do the same thing twice.
But we can’t.
Different people.
Different circumstances.
Different conditions.
What looks like repetition…
is usually iteration.
Small changes—
that matter.
The philosopher Heraclitus said:
You never step into the same river twice.
Because the water is always moving.
The river changes.
And so do you.
Which means we’re not reliving the same moment.
We’re revisiting the same challenges—
in a different world each time.
And that’s exactly how progress happens.