A rolling stone gathers no moss
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A rolling stone gathers no moss is a proverb.
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[edit] History
It is often credited to the Sententiae of Publilius Syrus, and roughly translates as
- People always moving, with no roots in one place, avoid responsibilities and cares.
The television show Mythbusters ran an experiment over the course of several months and managed to prove that a rolling stone does not in actuality gather moss
[edit] Questions as to its provenance
The saying may not be authentic to Syrus; the Latin form usually given, Saxum volutum non obducitur musco, does not appear in the edited texts of Publilius Syrus, but it does appear in the Adagia of Erasmus.[1]
[edit] In English
The conventional English translation appeared in John Heywood's collection of Proverbs in 1546. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable also credits Erasmus, and relates it to other Latin proverbs, Planta quae saepius transfertus non coalescit, or Saepius plantata arbor fructum profert exiguum, both of which mean that a frequently replanted tree or plant yields little fruit.[2] It appears that the original intent of the proverb saw the growth of moss as desirable, and that the intent was to condemn mobility as unprofitable. The contemporary interpretation has turned the traditional understanding on its head.
Erasmus's proverb gave the name "rolling stone" to people who meet this description.
[edit] In Rock and Roll music
This allusion has taken root in blues and rock and roll music. The blues musician Muddy Waters wrote a 1948 song called Rollin' Stone, which contains the lyrics:
From this reference, Brian Jones called the band he founded with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards "The Rolling Stones". Bob Dylan's 1965 song "Like a Rolling Stone", which appeared on his album Highway 61 Revisited, may refer to the original proverb. Jimi Hendrix used the full, translated version of the proverb in the lyrics to the song ""Highway Chile"on the album Are You Experienced. From these references, Jann Wenner and Ralph J. Gleason founded the magazine Rolling Stone. The song "One of Us" compares God to a "Holy Rolling Stone".
In more recent rock music, Dave Matthews Band alludes to the negative connotation of the phrase in the 2002 song "Busted Stuff": "A rolling stone gathers no moss, but leaves a trail of busted stuff."
[edit] In Psychiatry
Because it is so well known, this saying is one of the most common proverbs used in psychological tests for mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, to look for difficulty with abstraction. American research[5] conducted in the 1950’s between Air Force basic airmen and hospitalized Veterans Administration patients with schizophrenia found that the way a person interprets proverbs can be used to determine abstraction ability. The lack of abstraction ability in these studies was statistically significantly higher in the VA patients and it has thus been construed as indicating pathology. As persons with mental illness are generally believed to demonstrate 'concrete' thinking (a tendency to interpret abstract concepts literally) the research results have, in practice, often been improperly generalised to suggest proverbs alone can be a sufficient indicator of mental illness.
A 'concrete' interpretation of the proverb "a rolling stone gathers no moss" would simply restate the proverb in different words, rather than delivering any metaphorical meaning[6]. For example, a 'concrete' interpretation of the proverb is of the kind "If you roll a stone down a hill, it won't pick up any moss". This kind of answer is considered a failure to abstract and fails the psychological test. An example of an abstract interpretation is when substitution of metaphors occurs. A "rolling stone" is interpreted as (eg) an unsettled person or a busy person and "moss" is interpreted as (eg) something to be avoided or conversely, something to be desired. The important feature of the test is the discernment and substitution of metaphors rather than a particularly 'correct' answer.
Critics of using proverbs this way point out that:
- 'sane' persons who have never heard the proverb will interpret the proverb 'concretely'
- proverbs are neither a necessary, nor sufficient test for mental illness;
- while a negative (concrete) result indicates nothing, there is anecdotal evidence that negative results are incorrectly used to diagnose mental illness;
- while a positive (abstract) result strongly indicates no mental illness, there is anecdotal evidence that positive results are frequently ignored.
The latter of these criticisms was illustrated brilliantly in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Miloš Forman, where convicted prisoner McMurphy fakes mental illness in the belief he will have a better time in a forensic mental institution.
Young Psychiatrist: Have you ever heard of the old saying, a rolling stone gathers no moss?
McMurphy: Yeah.
Young Psychiatrist: Does that mean something to you?
McMurphy: Uh... It's the same as, don't wash your dirty underwear in public.
Young Psychiatrist: I'm not sure I understand what you mean?
McMurphy: [smiling] I'm smarter than him, ain't I? [laughs]
McMurphy: Well, that sort of has always meant, is, uh it's hard for something to grow on something that's moving.
Psychiatrist: Dr. Sanji?
Dr. Sanji: I don't think he's overly psychotic, but, I still think he's quite sick.
Psychiatrist: You think he's dangerous?
Dr. Sanji: Absolutely so.
[edit] References
- ^ Adagia, Erasmus, at Bibliotheca Augustana.
- ^ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, sub. tit. "Rolling Stone".
- ^ Muddy Waters: Rollin' Stone
- ^ Rollin' Stone lyrics
- ^ Clinical Manual for Proverbs Test, 1956, Dr Gorham, Missoula MT., Psychological Test Specialists
- ^ "Proverb interpretation in forensic evaluations", William H. CampbellMD, MBA and A. Jocelyn RitchieJD, PhD, AAPL Newsletter, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Jan 2002 Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 24-27
