> the common-sense, and, we may add, the natural instincts of mankind, reject the supposition that only experts can approximate certainty upon such a subject. there are matters of which all men have more or less knowledge... about which they may and do form opinions, sufficiently satisfactory to constitute the basis of action. 111 u.s. at 620. this passage suggests that madness is not just the domain of the medically trained, but something intimately connected to the natural instincts of all people. the line between sanity and insanity is a space where common human intuitionwhat could be seen as an esoteric inner knowingcan play a role in discerning reality. this reflects an ancient belief present in both mystical and philosophical traditions: that the ordinary person, through innate wisdom or inner perception, can glimpse metaphysical truths. in this case, it speaks to the idea that there is something universally understood about the collapse of the mind, that it resonates with an inherent human recognition of when consciousness has passed from ordered rationality into a more chaotic or enlightened state, suggesting that everyone carries some intrinsic capacity for spiritual or occult understanding.
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