As defined in
12-step recovery, this is the act of
repeating the same
behavior over and over, yet always expecting a different
result.
Some familiar examples:
habitually showing up late for work, thus getting fired from every job because of this
continually spending all one's money on an addiction, not paying the bills, then suffering the consequences
forever drinking to the point of extreme intoxication, vowing while suffering the hangover from hell that they'll never drink again, then over-indulging until the same misery is revisited
Can this be attributed to an OCD? Faulty conditioning? Stupidity? False hope or pride? Denial of the obvious? Whatever the cause, the cycle must somehow eventually be broken.