What is normal?

[nerdlord_PREV (deleted)]

I will start off this journey into self-delusion by giving several outlooks on the term normal. Starting with my own & leading to the positive & negative side of the word "normal."

(1)I feel that the term normal is used to describe people as mundane, average, maybe a little dull. No one is normal we all have certain things that set us apart from one another like preferences, desires, & our own personalites.

(2)Normal is a term used to bring people together because in this chaotic world most people don't always want to be alone. So we use the term "normal" to describe ourselves to attract friends. Most people try to shy away from people who look, act, or live different.

(3)The word normal is used to describe people who blend in & never speak up. Mundane as I defined it in my first outlook, normality usually herds people together so they can wallow in thier own boring existance together.

Please I would really like to know what you all think of the word "normal" & please remember I am not trying to badger or make fun of anyone anywhere because a little normality exists in us all.

-nerdLord

[type1wizard]

Normal is just to define the average as society sees it. Normal is a culmination of what is deemed to be socially acceptable. Things that are average. For example, someone who gets up every morning, goes to work, comes home, goes grocery shopping, etc., is living a "normal" life. If you're a millionaire, and you're out buying a new car every day, and living high on the hog, that's more "sensational." However, when you shun the societal norms, that's when people start using the word "abnormal." Of course, you have to understand that if you like Star Wars more than sports, if you'd rather go to a Midnight Madness movie than "da club," this is what people call abnormal.

It's a simple desire to fit in. We saw it all in high school, didn't we? The people who do the same things everyone else did because they were afraid the scales of judgement would rub them wrongly were they to go with their true desires.

"The multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon him. And fortune on his damned quarrel smiling, showed like a rebel's whore. But all's too weak: for brave MacBeth -well he deserves that name- disdaining fortune with his brandish'd steel, which smoked with execution. Like valor's minion, carved out his path, 'til he fac'd the slave, which he ne'er shook hands with, nor bade farewell to."

[nintendork]

Normal can be used to describe the majority of the population's tendency toward one thing or another, not necessarily meaning "mundane" or "dull." For instance, chances are you have a nose. Having a nose is normal. But it does not necessarily mean you blend in with the rest of the crowd. I have a nose. But I would not necessarily declare myself "normal." The real problem with this word is that most use it in a fashion to describe the entirety of their being. This, in essence, is abuse of the term. To declare oneself "normal" is to proclaim that the individual in question is exactly the same as most of the population, but with the infinite complexities of the mind and persona, this is quite improbable. But, being as people do this anyway, they are therefore perpetuating the term and setting the standard for everyone around them. This, although it does not seem it, is one of the biggest problems with the world. Grok it?

[(deleted)]

Normal is a damn copout. It doesn't exist, and because of this, neither does "weird". I can't help but get offended when people call me either of these things.

[mixedgreens_PREV (deleted)]

well what about "normal"?
normal to the individual?
like "my life and most of everything in my own world is normal to me. So anything that is weird to my world, I deem 'weird'"

something like that.
so there is such a thing as weird, normal, and abnormal---- but to the individual, just like beauty is... and everything else in this world.

it's all in the eye of the beholder.

[dunnosaur]

"Normal" is a term used to describe the average state of something. If you are talking about a "normal" member of society, you are usually talking about a person who works an office job, has 2 kids and lives in the suburbs. That is pretty average for this country I think. If you are talking about someone acting "normal", then you mean something average for that particular person. "Yeesh, Cathy hasn't been screaming her head off nor throwing bricks at kids. That's not normal." Of course both of those behaviors are not something the average well-socialized person would do, but if she usually does those behaviors and suddenly stops them for a while, you would say she isn't acting "normal" or "like herself".

I tend to not have such angst when "normal" is brought up, but to each their own, right? XD

Boink

[hyspatia]

`Normal is the complete absence of extraordinary circumstances.

[andriek]

``I totally agree with type1wizard, I have always maintained that Normality isn't a real concept but an regional average of people's behavior and accepted acts in a situation and attutides. What is normal for one city can be different than another. We all prefer to think that normality is universal but in truth the world is too large for that, and everyone thinks differently.

The term normal as something to be boring or mundane however is a different issue. To me labeling something as normal is like saying that on average every possible action your have done or could of done in this situation when you felt as you do has been averaged to out to what you have done.

As a side note I love confounding people and confusing by saying proudly yep when they call me or what I had did as silly or insane

[ravensflyte (deleted)]

`Normalcy is perspective; what's normal for one person may not be for another.

[mindwarper10]

I view normal as I view good and evil, a nonexistant thing with a definition.

'NORMAL' is what one person percieves as a common thing, something they are used to, the norm, it is the mundane thing that draws in people who are used to the same unchanged portion of lives, normal is the earth turning, everyones belief the earth is fl-round...
normal, like good and evil, is based off of the beliefs taught to a person, nad in reality can not be described.

[ryuseiken (deleted)]

`"Normal" exists because we as a species are group animals. So in order to have a group, boundaries must be created. And it is in our evolutionary biology to be scared of what's different. Thus, only the most open-minded and open-hearted are able to accept everyone (and not just to be politically correct, but to truly embrace everyone).

[buttercupboxer]

`Normal is a setting on a home appliance, like your washing machine.

[screaminchick12]

`No Ones Normal!
EveryOne Has There Issues!
Can Any Define The Real Definition Of Normal?
Can ANyOne Name People Who Are Normal?
No Ones Normal!
People Who Think Theyre "Normal"
Are Usually @ssh*les Or B----es Who Think
Theyre To Good For AnyOne!

[vikkircassidy]

`Normal people are people that follow 'The rules' without fuss.
Normal people are basically as close to becoming sheeps as humans can get.


*Just my opinion*

[wolfguitar (deleted)]

`To say that something is normal, there has to be abnormality. If everything was exactly the same then no one would notice the differences between people and things and there would be no need for the word normal. But the differences are what make things "different then normal" Like how people can say a normal cat or dog has 4 legs. and an abnormal cat or dog has less. It doesnt make it any less a dog, it just qualifies it in a different manner. But for people, there cant be any "Normal". Theres too many variable and wow ive been studying too much to actually say variables haha. But i mean to call anything normal like a person is absurd. I like being different. If i was just like everyone else, what would be the point of trying to become something? And i agree with ^^, it is about following rules. so break every rule you can so that you break all the norms. rebel!