What is "normal"

[Cat Cloud]

Everyone is individual.
Therefore all people are different.
Therefore there is no "average".
Therefore there is no such thing as "normal".
Therefore there is no such thing as "weird".

...except stupid people and psychotics. lol

stupid people are normal

Anyways, people try to be normal by trying to be like eachother, since they seem to think everyone else is more normal than themselves. So not trying to be like everyone else isn't 'normal'. Or at least that's what I've observed.

 

[Isaac The Grape]

OP here: fuck, double post.

 

[Isaac The Grape]

Well in my country its normal that teenagers listen to RAP and drink smoke and anything thats not legal and grown up men drink couple of gallons of beer every frikking day.

Out of interest, which county is that?

 

[gbemery]

What is 'normal' is very subjective. It is an understood way of doing things, acting, procedure etc that is 'agreed' upon by two or more people and usually comes with repetitive actions. A small group of friends can have a social ritual that they consider normal but others outside of said group would find 'weird'. Similarly a large group of society can set the 'norm' for things and ideas while a small group(s) might think differently them weird.

 

[MoNKeyYy]

in modern america
jersey shores is considered normal behavior
im so ashamed

Only complete fuckwits consider that "normal". The popularity of the show is precisely because those folks are freaks even by American standards so people stop to gawk.

then 80% of my entire school are fuckwits
=C

Where do you go to school, Staten Island?

Where ever it is, I guess being a fuckwit is normal.

 

[Manicotti]

I like to define normal as the result of meeting an arbitrary number of demands made by everybody and nobody at the same time.

Having said that, the concept of being "normal" is entirely subjective and doesn't even make all that great of psychological blackmail material. Whoever tries to cite it against you is trying to make you fit into their pretend version of reality and should be scorned/dismissed with extreme prejudice.

 

[The Hero Killer]

Apparently whatever's on BET, MTV, and VH1 at the moment.

 

[helldragonX]

Normal is the perception of the majority.

 

[Luftwaffles]

I have been called weird before, in a jokingly way. I think. But eh, i like being me. And yeah theres no standard of being "normal" and all that jazz. Once you get to uni and get exposed to all sorts of personalities, you'll see "weirdness".

 

[Legendairy314]

Normal is generally not trying to stick out (both in the positive and negative sense). But being normal is so boring I don't know why people even try.

 

[crudus]

My response to this quoted post about weirdness sort of went on a ramble. So I decided to make into a separate thread.

My little story:

Today I was walking with my ex (I only mention this to give you insight into the situation, not whining) going to our next classes in high school. During the conversation she stated "You're very weird, there's no (I didn't hear this with the noise), it's just a statement", and she said this jokingly while we both laughed a bit but I couldn't help but reflect on it and I myself cannot determine whether it was a joke, compliment, or insult of sorts.

I don't believe in the concept of "weirdness". It's too dependant on circumstance. I had a friend who at the age of 15 couldn't understand the point of pornography. What went through your mind as you read that? "That person is weird" "That person is blessed/indoctrinated" "Why did we need to know that?". What is "normal" or "correct behaviour"? Is it what the majority practises? Or is it something else? Opinions?

Normality is a standard. The standard varies wildly from subject to subject, but it is usually set by the populace. Something people don't seem to understand is that just because you aren't normal doesn't mean you are wrong. For example, in America it is normal to be in debt. It doesn't mean it is wrong to not be in debt (in fact that is quite good).

Nothing is "normal". Not objectively, at least.

It is normal to have a core body temperature of 98.6 degress F (+/- a degree). It is normal to have opinions. Those are very objective.

 

[sylekage]

Everything is normal, yet nothing is normal.

I think there is no such thing as normal. You see an ant on the ground. Same type of ant you've seen a hundred times. And then you see an ant with huge pincers. (can;t remember what they're called for the life of me. You think "dude, that is so weird." But it's not. It's "normal" for those types of ants to look that way.

Normality is just something you perceive as "different." People think I'm weird cuz I have OCD, but I find it normal for me, counting everything I do, doing things certain ways. What others see as "normal" is weird to other people. Just do what you want, if it's normal to you

Except murder, that stuff's weird. (and there's nothing "normal" about murder, ever.)

 

[General_Potatoes]

Well normal is not me so i don't know.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Normal according to my mother in an heated conversation we had today was. Having a girlfriend, having a job, having friends, not really playing video games and being for the most part unhappy because of those decisions. No seriously she said that. Oh and turns out your apparently gay if you don't have a girlfriend by the time your 21, who knew? God I cannot wait to get out of this ****hole. Perhaps on top of all that I should start drinking and watching sports despite the fact I hate both of those tthings. Does that make me more normal?

Your mother is a toxic human being. Shun her. Use it as motivation to get out on your own and tell your mom to enjoy the nursing home you'll dump her in the moment she shows even the slightest sign of old age. Or if you've got siblings, tell her that "hope (name of sibling) is rich so he'll support you in your old age."

I'm not on speaking terms with my mother.

Believe me the moment I can be I am out of here and I do use it as motivation everyday. Thanks for making me laugh btw, haven't done that all day.

If you feel like you have to cut your mother out of your life to preserve your sanity or happiness, don't let ANYONE tell you you've done something wrong. People will try to guilt you, but speaking as someone who endured a torrent of emotional abuse from Mom back in the day, blood may be thicker than water but only a fool uses it to excuse letting themselves be tormented.

Agreed toxic mothers aren't worth spit. Mine thinks I owe her something for not aborting me. How fucked up is that? And she put it exactly that way too... Aside from other forms of abuse/neglect over 25 years (I quit talking to her 5 years ago so... go figure).
9 months does not a mother make. It takes a lifetime of support and care to earn that title, anything else is just a surrogate.

OT: Normality is subjective, but there is pretty much a "normal" defined by what is acceptable to the majority. Asking someone for their definition though is a good way of confusing oneself.

 

[Spinozaad]

Normal is an vague social construct that's just 'floating out there', being confirmed and re-affirmed by everyone in society. Those who are it confirm it by conforming (which is such a negative word these days, but I do not mean it in a negative way here), those are "not normal" confirm it by rejecting it.

Normality is not what the majority thinks it is. It's something vague everyone agrees about, but nobody truly knows what it is that they reached agreement on.

Of course, when you get out of high school you'll realize that this social construct becomes even more relative.

 

[Doclector]

It's what society thinks, society being the majority of people

It's what the majority thinks.

keep in mind that the majority is not linked to some sort of hive mind.

Hehe, Unless certain factions of the media (fashion magazines and the like) count as the hive mind...

To me, normal is whatever a majority of the population percieve as normal according to the media, the education system, and in some cases the government. Whatever is percieved as not normal is then feared, hated, and eventually, coldly eliminated.

 

[Tekkawarrior]

Being abnormal is so over-rated, there is nothing wrong with normal.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Normality from a societal viewpoint is basically just yelling "Conform!"
Fuck that balls. I'm not ashamed about anything I like!

[sub]Except Linkin Park's first album.[/sub]

 

[Slash Dementia]

I guess, to the majority "normal" is what everyone's life should be like (ex. having an active social life).

To me, "normal" is what each person normally does and thinks. It doesn't matter if the person is crazy, stupid, or not. Normal is what it is to each person and is viewed differently in each mind.
And to me, telling someone:'I'm weird' is only saying 'I'm different from you', and the same for telling someone that they're weird.

 

[Levitas1234]

It's what society thinks, society being the majority of people

It's what the majority thinks.

keep in mind that the majority is not linked to some sort of hive mind.

Hehe, Unless certain factions of the media (fashion magazines and the like) count as the hive mind...

To me, normal is whatever a majority of the population percieve as normal according to the media, the education system, and in some cases the government. Whatever is percieved as not normal is then feared, hated, and eventually, coldly eliminated.

If you honestly believe that what you see on Tv is the normal of society, you're fucked in the head and probably watch jersey shore.

There is no normal.