But What Does It Really Mean To Be Insanely Great?
Composed By Various University of Illinois, Illinois State, Illinois
Wesleyan, And Bradley University Students Enrolled In Kasch Communication
Classes, 1986-1994.
Definition By Negation
ONE WAY TO DEFINE THINGS IS BY NEGATION (DEFINING THINGS IN TERMS OF
WHAT THEY ARE NOT)
Watching a black and white Vincent Price horror film on Sunday afternoon
in your boxers to the tune of a double martini while resting your head
on a pile of sweaty gym clothes and knowing that you can't find a date
that weighs less than 200 pounds for your brother's wedding, you would
definitely not consider yourself to be in a state of "insanely great."
In 103 it is not a "half ass" presentation which is prepared
the night before. It would be laughable to think that this could ever be
achieved, even by Chris. Insanely great is definitely not your "average
bear", you could never be insanely great if you are unwilling to leave
your comfort zones.
It is not a sermon in church that is read by a minister who can hardly
relate to the congregation. It is not premature ejaculation. It is not
the unpoped kernels in a bowl of popcorn. There is general consensus that
"insanely great" people do not engage in the following behaviors:
you don't sit in front of a TV all day wasting your mind away; you don't
watch soap operas, you don't do cross-word puzzles, you don't memorize
sports statistics, and you don't engage in "mental masturbation."
If any of the following words describe you or your efforts in a Kasch
communication class than you could never be "insanely great":
lame, half-ass, mediocre, sub-par, poor, pathetic, so-so, terrible, middle
of the road, satisfactory, just all right or merely adequate, and/or cretinism
(mindless idiocy).
Insanely great can be a verb. If any of the following verbs describe
your actions in a Kasch communication class you will not likely be "insanely
great": shying away from challenge; aspiring to just make it, passing
the buck, leaving people with only the option of saying "he or she
was ok", "just getting by", being a 207 saddle, being a
Hans Brinker (just trying to skate by), doing the same thing, the same
way, never leaving your comfort zones, and never exploring new frontiers,
and never in Chris's words being a "citizen."
Definition By Example
ONE CAN DEFINE A CONCEPT BY FINDING EXAMPLES OF THE "INSANELY
GREAT" IN A WIDE RANGE OF DIFFERENT CONTEXTS.
The insanely great person transcends mediocrity. In 103 it is when
one's "Top Gun" outline is forever embedded in the 103 Hall of
Fame. It is giving a presentation which leaves an impression which is etched
upon the audience's mind for a lifetime. In Communication 207 it's working
in a group which, when you go your separate ways at the end of the semester,
leaves you with the feeling that you will never again be part of a group
that was "so good it was almost scary."
It's spending hours dressed up in 1960's garb for a two minute commercial
segment of a 207 video, just because of the desire to make the video insanely
great. It's spending 50 hours in an editing booth to create a flawless
final 207 project. In the service of others it is a person who builds a
house with eight other people in two weeks for Habitat For Humanity.
In the semi-demented mind of former 207 small group ranger George Lamaster
(class of 1992) it is a "a folksinging, one-legged revolutionary feminist
with prostrate cancer who scales Mt. Kilominjaro sponsored by the Elks
lodge for 5 cents a mile to save the homeless.
It general, it might be solving a problem that everyone said couldn't
be done, breaking a record in a given event that had never been thought
to be possible, it's making the impossible look easy, it's reaching what
other people think is too hard, it is the difference between wanting to
read a history book, write one, or create some history.
Definition By Description/Classification
DESCRIBING A PHENOMENA IN TERMS OF IT'S DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS AND
CLASSIFYING IT IN TERMS OF ITS SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCE TO OTHER PHENOMENA.
One can describe or classify insanely great work in terms of it's defining
characteristics and in terms of the characteristics of others response
when they are in the presence of an insanely great group, insanely great
speakers, and insanely great work.
It is relatively easy to classify insanely great because it is work
which is in a class by itself. It is great, super-tremendous, above and
beyond. It is the pinnacle of the mountain of greatness. Insanely great
work belongs in the category of bizarre creativity.
It is the works of those members of the Hall Of Fleeting Fame which
is timeless, excellences almost always transcends time and place. In order
to be classified in the category of insanely great your work would have
to be "wildly visionary", it would have to be "transcendent"
or "unique", perhaps "never been done before."
One can describe insanely great work in terms of the behaviors required
to produce this quality work (e.g. massive effort, total monkish preparation
and it is the product of powerful rational intellect). And most importantly,
to be insanely great one must bring your classmates with you to be this
new level of excellence."
One can describe insanely great work in terms of the emotions evoked
in the minds of those who do insanely great work (e.g. it's almost a high,
it's a sense of well being and happiness that accompanies accomplishment,
it's the look of esteem and envy in the eyes of other team members, it's
the feeling of doing better work than you believed you could). It is the
feeling experienced by two parents looking at their new born child-when
two becomes three. It is the feelings of joy which words can not express.
It is above average, It is flawless perfection. It is in the class
of the perfect rose, the mint-flavored waves of pleasure which accompany
the ultimate orgasm. It is in a class which most "average bears"
feel can not be realistically achieved and should be left to the legends.
It is something everyone dreams of at night, but only the few, the proud,
the loony are able to achieve.
"It would be a happy fate, for my group to be insanely great.
That to me, means the best around, nobody is better in the whole town.
Extra effort, hard work, not fate. Makes a group insanely great."(Jason
Altschal. Communication 205 Class of 1991).
It is to exist in that rarefied moment of pure absolute lucidity."
(Jason Little) An altered state of mind combined with all out effort to
produce an unconscious will to be the best. (Pete D'Amico)
Definition By Analogy
THE CLARITY THAT A DEFINITION BY ANALOGY CAN PROVIDE IS BASED ON HOW
CLOSELY ALIKE TWO THINGS ARE.
Often the mythic heros of the past furnish the appropriate analogy
for understanding insanely great (e.g. Robinson Crusoe, King Arthur, James
Bond, Amelia Erhart, Mother Teresa, Captain Kirk, Scooby Do, Christopher
Columbus, Socrates, St. Paul, Albert Einstein, Shakespeare, Lucille Ball,
Martin Luther, King Jr., Johnny Appleseed, The Beatles, Sherlock Holmes,
Copernicus, Robin Hood, Willy Lomans, Odysseus, Mick Jagger, and Neil Postman).
In 207 insanely great work is like going up in a hot air balloon. It
is like a completed puzzle it takes a lot of small things that come together
in the end to create a work that is purel. Insanely great work has been
compared to the "thrill of skydiving", "like running a marathon
and sprinting your last five miles." Insanely great work is amazing
work.
Often insanely great is often compared to that which is superhuman
(e.g. its like you are walking on air, nothing gets you down; it's like
receiving a superhuman surge of power and intensity in an emergency situation,
it is flashes of brilliance from heaven, like in Indian Jones and the Temple
of Doom. At other times insanely great is compared to the simple things
in life (e.g. it's as refreshing as a tall cool glass of lemonade on a
hot August day, a 30 minute backrub after a long day, a cup of Jamaican
blue with a strawberry cheese croissant served to you in bed by your boyfriend,
just because he cares).
Definition By Function And Purpose
PURPOSE IMPLIES INTENT. WHEN ONE IS INSANELY GREAT WHAT IS ONE'S INTENT?
FUNCTION IMPLIES BEHAVIOR. WHEN ONE IS INSANELY GREAT WHAT BEHAVIORS DOES
ONE ENGAGE IN?
INTENT
What is the intent of the insanely great person or the person who wants
to motivate others to do insanely great work? The insanely great person
tries to turn on the human spirit to a particular idea, emotion or thing.
It is the desire to set one's mind in the direction of reaching one's full
potential.
The intent of insanely great is to achieve perfection, something so
many strive for but so few reach, the intent or purpose of being insanely
great is pure pleasure. It is shooting for 210% attainment. Those interested
in doing insanely great work intend to the do the best they can, better
than their wildest imagination.
In order to engage in behaviors which define insanely great work one
must change the way they think. To be insanely great one must look at the
world from a difference perspective, a sort of "skewed view."
For example, Question: "how many surreal artists does it take to screw
in a light bulb? Answer: Fish."
People who are engaged in the process of doing insanely great work
act happy and excited, their behavior is intense, they are excited, motivated,
boisterous, touched, dazed, crazed, and a little daft.
Those who observe "insanely great" work often express shock
at the magnitude of the accomplishment. They often talk to celestial beings,
"Jesus, did you see their video script it was insane."UnFingbelivable,
I just can't believe what they accomplished."
In 103 the insanely great speaker intends to leave all their comfort
zones and go "full goose bozo." The behavior of 207 project teams
is characterized by total and complete involvement, they work long hours,
they try various options to produce the best, and they become involved
in all ways in the project. Individual members of these groups push themselves
hard, they reach for the stars, they burn the midnight oil, they grit their
teeth when the going gets tough and never stop believing in themselves
or the group.
Definition By Operational Criteria
IN OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS EACH WORD IS DEFINED IN TERMS OF SOME MEASURABLE
BEHAVIOR SO THAT WE CAN LOOK ACROSS CASES AND QUANTITATIVELY ASSESS THE
SIMILARITY OF LIKE CASES.
It is measured in terms of "damns", the more times someone
says a "damn" the more insanely great the work is. A Communication
103 audience might say "damn that was good", as the work gets
progressively more insanely great they might remark "damn, that was
damn good" or perhaps "a really, damn, damn, damn good show"
and so forth.
It could be measured in terms of audience smiles, claps, chills, or
goosebumps. It could be measured it terms of tingles, like a insanely great
kiss. If you can give an audience goosebumps you know you have given them
the feeling, and you know you have been insanely great. Insanely great
is measured by how far your eyes roll back in your head and how long they
stay there or how loud you moan when you are engaging in passionate activities..
In Communication 207 it might be measured in pages, like a 17 single-spaced
page video script would be one yardstick for measuring insanely great.
It is the number of compliments you get from your audience in 103 or from
competing groups in 207 or fourOne7. You would need to measure the amazement
level of new students watching Communication 207 video projects or a fourOne7
instructional hour. In 207 insanely great is not measured in terms of outcome,
but in terms of the percentage of dedication the group as a whole demonstrates.
If you have 6 group members than you can probably not be insanely great
unless there is a 600% dedication factor.
In Communication 103 it could be measured by how many people have cardiac
arrest or vapor lock because they are so amazed at how insanely great a
presentation is. It could be measured in terms of memorability. If several
years from now you meet a fellow 103 ranger on the street and he or she
remembers your presentation that it would have to be defined as insanely
great. In 207 it is having a banner hung from Neumiller Auditorium commemorating
your insanely grate video, just like the Boston Garden.
It is really only measured in terms of going off the top of whatever
scale is used to judge a particular set of activities, therefore, setting
a new standard of excellence. It is measured in terms of past accomplishment,
it must surpass anything before it. For example, in terms of originality
one moves from "oh that again" to the "holy shit factory."
It terms of impact one moves from "I forgot about it already"
to "I'm a changed person." It terms of content one moves from
"doggy do" to "should be added to the Great Book Series.
In terms of style it is the movement from Herb Tarlack to Donald Trump.
They say that the greatest and most beautiful things in life cannot
be either seen, or touched or measured they must be felt with your heart.
Being insanely great is to feel a deep sense of goodness inside. It's is
leaving class on the last day, walking hand in hand with your fellow group
members, with nothing being said, yet each feeling that inner sense of
well being that comes when you have experienced something special together.
Many people feel that it is difficult to measure insanely great because
it is not an accomplishment or attainment but a feeling inside of you,
don't ask how it's measured, ask how it feels. Others feel it is difficult
to measure because it is a life time process, not a specific outcome.
Insanely great things must be shared. If kept in a closet, hidden,
or concealed then it's worth cannot be appreciated. Others must learn,
or feel, or somehow be touched by the object, act, or person who claims
to be insanely great (Casey Jo Cook).
Definition By Context
BECAUSE OF THE MANY DENOTATIVE AND CONNOTATIVE MEANINGS THAT WORDS
ACQUIRE, WE OFTEN DO NOT KNOW THE MEANING OF A WORD UNTIL WE HEAR IT IN
CONTEXT. FOR EXAMPLE, THE WORD "PITCH". HOW DOES CONTEXT E.G.
MUSIC LESSON, OR BASEBALL GAME SHAPE THE MEANING OF THIS WORD?
SOME WORDS ARE LEAN AND MEAN E.G. MORE CONCRETE AND LESS AMBIGUOUS
AND DO NOT RELY AS MUCH ON CONTEXT TO CARRY THEIR MEANING.
OTHER WORDS LIKE "INSANELY GREAT" ARE MORE ABSTRACT AND MAY
BE MORE DEPENDENT ON THE CONTEXT IN ORDER TO HELP ONE UNDERSTAND THEIR
MEANING.
In the context of a Communication 207, fourOne7 or 391 work teams,
when it kind of dawns on you that you are part of something special, it
is a combination of pride and amazement, when you begin to realize what
a group of individuals who were once strangers become a team and what they
might actually accomplish. In the context of a Communication 207 work team
you are insanely great if you can make it through the course and still
be in love with your group. In the context of your small group it is almost
a feeling not a meaning, it the feeling of pure synergy you feel when you
know that your group is on the verge of doing something that is truly remarkable.
In the context of basketball it is Michael Jordan, "backboard swaying,
game delaying, in your face disgrace, your mama slam dunk." In the
context of your summer vacation you might be insanely great if you brought
political stability to Yugoslavia, repaired the ozone layer, and ran a
triathalon every day.
In the context of Communication 103 it would mean that the speaker
is completely unleashed as he or she transcends their best practice efforts.
In the arena the speaker demonstrates a consuming passion for the topic,
and there is almost a symbiotic relationships with the audience in a way
that the speaker never thought was possible. After completing Communication
103, you should be able to give insanely great presentations- like walking
into a Ku Klux Klan meeting and giving a speech about racial harmony. In
the context of dating it is serenading your date on your first date. In
the context of teacher-student encounters it is the ability to intimidate
Chris Kasch. In Communication fourOne7 it means "going for your Postman"
in times of doubt and need. (Dan Blankenburg). It would be producing the
ideal news program in Postman's eyes and than flying Dr. Postman in to
help with the presentation."(Russ Peer)
Definition By Origin
ONE WAY TO DEFINE A CONCEPT IS TO LOOK AT THE ETYMOLOGY OR ORIGIN OF
THE WORD.
Insanely great is conjectured to have many origins. It historical origins
are subject to many rumors. Some believe that the concept may have originated
on a small island, someone was on vacation and was sitting under a coconut
tree, a coconut hit him on the head and the concept emerged, basically
from the need to classify something intangible. "Insane" comes
from the latin word insanus from "in" and "sanus" meaning
sane. The word "great" has its origins in old English word grete,
meaning coarse, grained, large, or tall.
The modern meaning of insane is something that is wildly visionary,
utterly foolish or ridiculous. So if you do something "insanely"
you would do it beyond the bounds of reason. So something insanely great
would be something beyond the reasonable bounds of size, number, or intensity.
Some believe that the concept may have originated in the Sigma Chi
house, where urban legend has it there was a member who generated such
force when urinating it was claimed he could "urinate over the top
of a bus." Others feel that its historical origin was found in the
mind of Seuss who wrote, but never published a little known story called
IGY" (Insanely Great Youth). At the far corners of the galaxy there
is a tiny planet called Askkay. The people of Askkay lived happy, but boring
lives because they had no art. One day a 10 year old boy named Sirhc cut
and colored a paper snowflake and hung it on his wall. He grew up to be
an artist and taught the people of Ashkay to draw, pain, sculpt, and macrame.
It may have started when Lancelot dared to love Guinevere, or when
common men and women stormed the Bastille. Some people believe the concept
originates only in the mind of each individual, it comes into being when
a person searches one's inner mind and finds that part of the self hiding
in one's mind and allows it to become unleashed and lets it take over one's
life. It originates in a person's heart when they make a commitment to
dare to be different. Some people believe it originated in Communication
103, perhaps in thee semi-demented mind of Chris Kasch, perhaps when it
became a cult thing, when in Speech 103 a group of students tried to do
the extraordinary and give an insanely great presentation, perhaps from
watching the first 103 "super-pup" in Ancient Greece.
In actuality, the word insanely great was first coined by Steven Jobs,
the co-founder of Apple computer, the person who revolutionized the computer
industry, the person who lead the team which developed the MacIntosh, the
person who had a vision that the personal computer would be the "pencil
which would rewrite the history of the world."
