What exactly is "normal" and why?

[devonin]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

How is making the free decision "I am going to make an effort to conform to what I percieve as preexisting standards" not thinking for yourself?

[chunky_cheese]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

People are "normally" unique.

[devonin]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

People have all manner of beliefs, opinions and tendencies in common. How is it somehow offensive to conclude that a belief held by a vast majority of people is "normal" and that people who do not hold to the same belief differ from the "norm"?

People are using the word "normal" they are not explicitly attaching a value judgement that "normal" is the same as "good" and that "abnormal" is the same as "bad" so why are people reacting like that is the explicit presupposition?

[Coca Cola]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

People are afraid of abnormal, so they make everything "normal". Or at least they try to.

[Lone--Wanderer]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

The concept of what if normal and what is not depends entirely upon the person in question; in my mind, antisocial, intelligent, secluded people who like to play video games of some sort are "normal".



Notice also that "normal" tends to coincide with how the person in question acts.

[devonin]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

Except that it is more of a linguistic thing than a societal thing to argue that what constitutes "normal" (as per sociological norms, behavioural norms etc) is merely that quality which is in the majority of a given sample group.

What is "normal" for "users of FFR" is not the same as "normal" for "members of a quliting bee" It all depends on what sample you are trying to gauge normalcy for.

And once again, it is a quantitative term not a qualitative one, there are no value judgements inherent to the term, even if many people seem to want to attach some.

[Lone--Wanderer]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

Yeah...

Hmm.

I guess there is no universal "normal" then...

[devonin]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

Well, sure there is. "normal" is the quality which is in the majority, and your sample size in that case is "everybody"

It's nigh impossible to conclude what -kinds- of things are normal on that scale, but there are some things common to virtually everyone in the world: A desire to not die, a belief that murder for no reason is wrong, A desire to forge meaningful relationships with other humans.

[-paexaea-]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

To me, normality is glorious ignorance. If you're normal, you don't know about some things. People who have some kind of child scarring in their past, whatever the reason may be, will be able to bounce their problems off or disect the problem and solve it. Normal people may go crazy off the slightest thing.

You know most serial killers? Talk to their families. They would probably say he was very normal. But people who have been surrounded by that kind of thing would be able to ignore it.

[Nightfirecat]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

To me-- being normal means having goals and hopes but having to work hard to achieve them. Being exceptional is being able to work very little but still achieve the same amount. Normal is the definition of people who have to live with being mediocre at everything that they don't work very hard at. Normal is the definition of people who want something, but know that it will take years to get it and are willing to live an average life to get it. Normal is NOt the people who are actually looking at this thread. We are the minority, and we are EXCEPTIONAL! Ok, disregard the last sentence, and that'll be all I have to say in this thread

[devonin]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

You're using normal as a mid-range to stupid and intelligent, instead of an alternate to 'abnormal' which is the sense being duscissed.

[MI4 REAL]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

"Normal" is just a word that means "typical"

[who_cares973]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

there is no "normal". normal is what you make of it


to each their own i say

[Bamboozler]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

What do people in society view as "normal" and why? I mean we have the same jobs (some of us), same hobbies, certain religions (some of us), same body functions such as eating and breathing, and other characteristics. Not to mention the environment, diseases that spread, human conflicts, and death. Is this the way life is meant to be for ever? Why do some people just come to the conclusion that they can live life the way they do and consider it "normal"? Also, isn't there more than having the same jobs that people have had in the past or present (or jobs similar to that in these times)? I just want to hear from everyone else before I might say something (because I can't think of anything right now unless someone brings up a good point).

This is w/o reading other posts, simply to put my thoughts on the subject into space. I'm aware it's a wall of text, I know, but I hope it gives a decent answer to your question.

There are a lot, a LOT of factors which contribute to what makes something the "norm" in a society, and there's a lot of research been done on the subject, but I'll spare the commentary and get to some of the main points.

Firstly, when we were "animals", if you believe the evolutionary theories, the "norm" was what allowed us to survive. If we did not follow the norm of collecting food for our tribes and what not, we would die off. Now, as time progressed, and our brains got larger, we began to have more free time on our hands, and many different problems began to face us. For example, what if Timmy just killed Bob, our primary food gatherer? We couldn't have things like that happening, so we forbid it from happening further...

Now let's jump way, way into the future... present day in fact. We've now split into many social classes... you know, punk, prep, goth, ect. Each of these social class has its own norms and values, which it believes are "good" and "right". Other classes, to them, do not follow the norms of their group, so they avoid them. Each of these social classes is actually a break-down of a "larger" social class, which is our society (say American) as a whole. Whoever is on top, or the upper class of that society, will generally set the norms on a role model basis. The norms then spread down through other social class until they eventually reach yours, and those of the people around you. You can then make judgements on what is right or wrong, the norm, for yourself, but the primary norms which have been seeded down through society take a long time to change, due to what's known as the "entrenchment" effect. In our society, the norms are generally spawned from the government.

I could go on for a lot longer but... I think this should give you a basic overview of the topic... heck I've already created a wall of text as it is. Hope this helps some... check out wikipedia if you want more in depth//specific stuff... it's great for that.

[YoUgOtBeAtByAgUrL]

Re: What exactly is "normal" and why?

Sorry for not reading the whole thread (I'm a little tired). But this is what I think about this topic.

Everyone has a different view of what normal is. It really depends on the society, while celebrities think that getting driven around and waited on hand and foot is normal for them, a person looking into that lifestyle will judge that as something out of the norm.

Thats just a local example, there are more ways of contrasting normal and abnormal through everyday activities. In my humble opinion, I really think that normal should not be in the dictionary as there really is NO definite definition of it.