Out of Sheer boredom I decided to got to Dictionary.com and look up the definition of "normal". This is what I found.
nor·mal (nôrml)
adj.
1. Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical.
2. Functioning or occurring in a natural way; lacking observable abnormalities or deficiencies.
3. Occurring naturally and not because of disease, inoculation, or any experimental treatment. Used of immunity.
4. Of, relating to, or being a solution having one gram equivalent weight of solute per liter of solution.
5. Of, relating to, or being an aliphatic hydrocarbon having a straight and unbranched chain of carbon atoms.
6. Of, relating to, or characterized by average intelligence or development.
n.
The usual or the expected state, form, amount, or degr
Define Normal?
Moderators: Mystic Dragon, Xalia, Shard
Define Normal?
Skype: Sheari02
I think there may be room for 'levels of normalcy' within a culture...
"Normal" is usually what (we) think of as people who are slightly dull, like sports on the weekend and beer with their nachos, graduated with a 2.9 gpa but lots of cheerleader friends, and can't understand the idea behind 'furries'.
Thing is, 'they' like normal. 'they' appear to be rigidly against any kind of change to their little rigid idea of what it's like to be a normal person. 'They' don't let their daughters get tattoos, 'they' freak out when their sons turn out to be gay.
Then there's "us". I think we actually have a standard of normality for our own group. We're more permissive - to a point. We're able to allow for creativity that includes body mods and alternative lifestyles and the like. We seem to have an understanding of 'personal freedom versus other people's freedom' that Normal folks ('them') don't or don't appear to.
Thing is, it's weird. When you ask a supposedly normal person what they think about something "weird" there's a chance they're not as 'normal' as even they think they are...
Sometimes it surprises ya, what hidden things 'normal' folks like to do, say, think or imagine. Maybe it's because they're so restrained (analogy: Japanese males in a repressive culture form the most amazing pornographic works, don't they?) that they rebound to think up some truly bizarre stuff...
At any rate, I don't think I've ever been accused of being normal, and I'm glad. I have some 'normal traits', but I thrill to the fact that most of my graduating class are ... sooooo just like they were in high school... and I'm ... sooo not.
"Normal" is usually what (we) think of as people who are slightly dull, like sports on the weekend and beer with their nachos, graduated with a 2.9 gpa but lots of cheerleader friends, and can't understand the idea behind 'furries'.
Thing is, 'they' like normal. 'they' appear to be rigidly against any kind of change to their little rigid idea of what it's like to be a normal person. 'They' don't let their daughters get tattoos, 'they' freak out when their sons turn out to be gay.
Then there's "us". I think we actually have a standard of normality for our own group. We're more permissive - to a point. We're able to allow for creativity that includes body mods and alternative lifestyles and the like. We seem to have an understanding of 'personal freedom versus other people's freedom' that Normal folks ('them') don't or don't appear to.
Thing is, it's weird. When you ask a supposedly normal person what they think about something "weird" there's a chance they're not as 'normal' as even they think they are...
Sometimes it surprises ya, what hidden things 'normal' folks like to do, say, think or imagine. Maybe it's because they're so restrained (analogy: Japanese males in a repressive culture form the most amazing pornographic works, don't they?) that they rebound to think up some truly bizarre stuff...At any rate, I don't think I've ever been accused of being normal, and I'm glad. I have some 'normal traits', but I thrill to the fact that most of my graduating class are ... sooooo just like they were in high school... and I'm ... sooo not.
Author of Repurposed
kshau-protectorate.com
kshau-protectorate.com
We're normal for our own group. Compared to other groups, sure, we're different. But compare any two groups, and you'll find different examples of "normalcy". Which is "normal", after all, being a member of a rich country club or being a member of a poor country church?
I don't think this is a fair question. The definition of "normal", according to a dictionary, isn't the same as popular definition. If you went around asking everyone on the street "are you normal?" I bet just about everyone out there would say "no". Normal is a construct; it doesn't exist as an over-arching concept, when referring to people, just as defined by a single group or even a single individual.
I don't think this is a fair question. The definition of "normal", according to a dictionary, isn't the same as popular definition. If you went around asking everyone on the street "are you normal?" I bet just about everyone out there would say "no". Normal is a construct; it doesn't exist as an over-arching concept, when referring to people, just as defined by a single group or even a single individual.
The stupidest smart person you ever met.
I suppose everyone has a different idea of what constitutes normal, too...
A lot of the girls my age around here have dyed blonde hair, thin figures, pseudo-fashionable clothes (we're in the least civilised part of the country, so we're a good year or two behind everyone else on fashion). The boys my age are all tall with spiked hair and football/soccer shirts, waving their stupid little England flags in honour of that World Cup thingy. Mneh.
I know I shouldn't do it, but I still can't help as see them all as mindless cattle with only one personality and half a dozen brain cells spread between them... With that said, I'm an accountant who does a lot of work for farmers, and that sometimes includes going out to farms. I have seen cattle with more definable personalities than half the humans I meet on the street.
I happen to like cows, actually. I retract my former statement, on account of not wishing to offend the bovine population of Cornwall.
Maybe it's just the county I live in. I'm sure there must be places in the world where the average person does actually have a personality or IQ above 100. I just don't think too many of them live in this particular part of England. I used to work with a girl of the aforementioned blonde, thin, fashionable type, very much typical of people my age where I live, who did an IQ test for fun and then bragged about the results at work. Can I admit, without someone here yelling at me, that I got double her score?
ANYWAY, my point, I think, is that we all get different ideas about what normal is, and how we consider normal will ultimately depend upon our own experiences with those people that fall in the bracket of 'normal' by our own personal experiences. From where I stand, 'normal' ultimately means 'stupid'.
I live in a backwards area. There're people around here who've never even left the county, whereas I make a point of leaving the country at least once every two years, and leaving Cornwall several times a year when possible, even if it's just for a few days, and only then to remind me why I hate driving on the roads further north of here. But not leaving Cornwall is considered the norm around here - the girl I mentioned earlier, she thought it was really adventurous to go on holiday / vacation to Somerset, a mere 70 miles away.
It's considered normal to have one computer and a dial-up connection, so people see me as strange for having five computers and the fastest connection technology will allow. Hell, I'm seen as weird because I haven't maxed out my credit card! Because I only have ONE credit card! Because I don't spend the equivalent of $80 per month on my mobile / cell phone!
I know it seems dreadfully arrogant, and I shouldn't do it... but can you understand how I can end up viewing 'normal' as 'stupid', and having a suitable distaste for that which is considered normal? Considering the standard of what 'normal' people do around where I live?
From my perspective, all the girls with dyed blonde hair, thin figures and fashionable clothes, and all the guys with spiked hair and football shirts and flags, come into my definition of normal. So I get insulted if someone associates me with 'normal' people.
I'm rebelliously not normal. This is, for example, why I won't get my hair cut. It goes spikey when it's short, and I refuse to be one of the masses of football-obsessed males by having spikey hair... Besides, long hair tied back while wearing a nice dark suit and tie for work does sorta work for me.... I'd look silly with short hair, I think...
I'm so gonna get yelled at by someone for all of the above. I think I'll just add a nice disclaimer... Uno momento...
Disclaimer - This is Shi' on a Saturday night (correction - Sunday morning), after several weeks of not being able to sleep due to high ambient temperatures and humidity, combined with the excessive sunlight of the summer months. The result is a Shi' who is distinctly less tactful and tolerant than usual, who has been tempted over the last few days to start using the Stealth Volvo (TM) for evil and nefarious purposes, up to and including running people over and/or taking over the world.
It should also be noted that in an attempt to gain the mythical status of sleep for a period exceeding four hours in any given 24 hour period, Shi' has imbibed no less than 9.6 European units of alcohol. Exhausted and drunken Shi' does not a tactful individual make. Please bear this in mind before you start yelling at the aforementioned individual.
A lot of the girls my age around here have dyed blonde hair, thin figures, pseudo-fashionable clothes (we're in the least civilised part of the country, so we're a good year or two behind everyone else on fashion). The boys my age are all tall with spiked hair and football/soccer shirts, waving their stupid little England flags in honour of that World Cup thingy. Mneh.
I know I shouldn't do it, but I still can't help as see them all as mindless cattle with only one personality and half a dozen brain cells spread between them... With that said, I'm an accountant who does a lot of work for farmers, and that sometimes includes going out to farms. I have seen cattle with more definable personalities than half the humans I meet on the street.
I happen to like cows, actually. I retract my former statement, on account of not wishing to offend the bovine population of Cornwall.
Maybe it's just the county I live in. I'm sure there must be places in the world where the average person does actually have a personality or IQ above 100. I just don't think too many of them live in this particular part of England. I used to work with a girl of the aforementioned blonde, thin, fashionable type, very much typical of people my age where I live, who did an IQ test for fun and then bragged about the results at work. Can I admit, without someone here yelling at me, that I got double her score?
ANYWAY, my point, I think, is that we all get different ideas about what normal is, and how we consider normal will ultimately depend upon our own experiences with those people that fall in the bracket of 'normal' by our own personal experiences. From where I stand, 'normal' ultimately means 'stupid'.
I live in a backwards area. There're people around here who've never even left the county, whereas I make a point of leaving the country at least once every two years, and leaving Cornwall several times a year when possible, even if it's just for a few days, and only then to remind me why I hate driving on the roads further north of here. But not leaving Cornwall is considered the norm around here - the girl I mentioned earlier, she thought it was really adventurous to go on holiday / vacation to Somerset, a mere 70 miles away.
It's considered normal to have one computer and a dial-up connection, so people see me as strange for having five computers and the fastest connection technology will allow. Hell, I'm seen as weird because I haven't maxed out my credit card! Because I only have ONE credit card! Because I don't spend the equivalent of $80 per month on my mobile / cell phone!
I know it seems dreadfully arrogant, and I shouldn't do it... but can you understand how I can end up viewing 'normal' as 'stupid', and having a suitable distaste for that which is considered normal? Considering the standard of what 'normal' people do around where I live?
From my perspective, all the girls with dyed blonde hair, thin figures and fashionable clothes, and all the guys with spiked hair and football shirts and flags, come into my definition of normal. So I get insulted if someone associates me with 'normal' people.
I'm rebelliously not normal. This is, for example, why I won't get my hair cut. It goes spikey when it's short, and I refuse to be one of the masses of football-obsessed males by having spikey hair... Besides, long hair tied back while wearing a nice dark suit and tie for work does sorta work for me.... I'd look silly with short hair, I think...
I'm so gonna get yelled at by someone for all of the above. I think I'll just add a nice disclaimer... Uno momento...
Disclaimer - This is Shi' on a Saturday night (correction - Sunday morning), after several weeks of not being able to sleep due to high ambient temperatures and humidity, combined with the excessive sunlight of the summer months. The result is a Shi' who is distinctly less tactful and tolerant than usual, who has been tempted over the last few days to start using the Stealth Volvo (TM) for evil and nefarious purposes, up to and including running people over and/or taking over the world.
It should also be noted that in an attempt to gain the mythical status of sleep for a period exceeding four hours in any given 24 hour period, Shi' has imbibed no less than 9.6 European units of alcohol. Exhausted and drunken Shi' does not a tactful individual make. Please bear this in mind before you start yelling at the aforementioned individual.
Actaully I think you tagged a lot of it, Shi'.
When people like us, "abnormal" folks, can point the finger at 'normal' what we mean is 'common' I think. There *is* a difference, but it's a hard, subtle one to pin down.
'Average' is not what we are. 'Common' is also not something I'd ascribe to any of us. We may well individually be 'normal' in many ways but ... we (generalizing here, broadly) seem to be a group of much more intelligent, creative and open people than most 'average' folks. Common people don't giggle when someone says 'noob!' do they? They merely think "they meant to say 'boob'..." 
When people like us, "abnormal" folks, can point the finger at 'normal' what we mean is 'common' I think. There *is* a difference, but it's a hard, subtle one to pin down.
'Average' is not what we are. 'Common' is also not something I'd ascribe to any of us. We may well individually be 'normal' in many ways but ... we (generalizing here, broadly) seem to be a group of much more intelligent, creative and open people than most 'average' folks. Common people don't giggle when someone says 'noob!' do they?
They merely think "they meant to say 'boob'..." Author of Repurposed
kshau-protectorate.com
kshau-protectorate.com
Well, I'll go by definition three - occurring naturally and not because of disease, inoculation, or any experimental treatment. That's us.
To be zen for a moment - 'normal' is an illusion in a sense. There are people out there searching for normality just as there are people searching for perfection - it ain't going to happen. Amazing how close perfection and normality are once you get to looking at them.
I know that I am 'normal' in my own way and for this group(hehe), but I don't like to call myself normal... At least not in the sense of normal being someone who shows all the intelligence of a doormat and adheres to the expected social norm.
Via la freethinkers!
To be zen for a moment - 'normal' is an illusion in a sense. There are people out there searching for normality just as there are people searching for perfection - it ain't going to happen. Amazing how close perfection and normality are once you get to looking at them.
I know that I am 'normal' in my own way and for this group(hehe), but I don't like to call myself normal... At least not in the sense of normal being someone who shows all the intelligence of a doormat and adheres to the expected social norm.
Via la freethinkers!=-Lylan Keep-=
Boreal Visions ~ DeviantArt
"The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation." - Auguste Rodin
Boreal Visions ~ DeviantArt
"The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation." - Auguste Rodin