ThisTroper is the token sane person among most of his internet friends.

Currently I'm doing a LetsPlay of the Hard Campaign of AdvanceWars 2. One thing I've noticed so far is that there are several missions where I would not have won if it wasn't for ArtificialStupidity. A human player in the AI's position would have, if not outright crushed me, at least done things that would have cost me the mission (like damaging a crucial capturing infantry on a timed lab mission). But because of flaws in the AI, it isn't "sane" enough to spot these things and I've been able to pull through. So even though the AI always seem to outgun you, you biggest advantage is that you're sane - or at least, sane enough for AW. I imagine it's the same for any game where you're competing against an AI.

Generally this is intentional. Many games these days have a setting where you can turn off the artifical stupidity of the AI, or at least tune it way down, and it makes levels where you're severely outgunned flat out impossible. When you've got a tiny base to your enemies huge one, and they have five times your income, you can't win without artificial stupidity.

As ThisTroper has spent time in a psychiatric hospital... yeah, I think I can safely say that SanityHasAdvantages. Like not wanting to kill yourself, and a reduced chance of being ''locked up against your will despite not having committed any crime'' (go read the rules for sectioning people, that stuff is crazy, no pun intended). ThisTroper didn't get sectioned, but you will be amazed who they will pull that shit on - it's not just people who are actually dangerous. Or, they threaten to pull that shit on you, so your choices are to go into hospital 'voluntarily' for probably about a week or involuntarily for six months.

I'm the most pragmatic people I know, and I'll point out flaws in ridiculous excuses and ideas in seconds, to get the same result with a much simpler plan. What's ironic about this is that I'm pretty insane most of the time, and my pragmatism, I think, is just a form of my sociopathy.