Normal; Is there such a thing?

I've heard plenty of debates about this in my school and a lot of students are saying things like "oh this person is weird because blah blah blah" And I understand there is the old statement "everyone is different" but society expects their people to live by certain standards, right? So what are your thoughts people?

 

The term "normal" is very broad. Most people would agree that putting your shirt on your head and willing-fully throwing up into it, then throwing it at someone else, is not normal (completely random thought).

But there's lots of other, less obvious things that come down to a matter of opinion. Like say, wearing a hoodie on backwards. It looks kind of weird, but a lot of people like the way it looks so to that group it could be considered "normal", but a forty year old man who just walked out of work in a suit and tie would probably think he was some kind of mugger or freak.

So yeah, matter of opinion.

But that's just my opinion.

 

Everyone's "normal" is different. People think its weird how I watch anime, read manga, can listen to things in different languages but I see it as normal. They even think that me reading a book, a normal storybook (not manga) is weird too. But for me, people going out, buying clothes and makeup without at least looking at a bookstore or gamestore is odd.

Like I said before, everyone's normal is different.

 

I think 'normal' is very relitive to the conditions that it is being said in, there is no uniform 'normal'. For some places 'normal' can be what is most common but the term is very broad and changes imensly between people and places.

 

Personally I believe that "normal" is what a group of people consider to be regular, traditional, within their comfort zone, etc. Therefore anything can be normal. Or nothing at all. Its up to everyone I think.

 

Within any given society, there are standards and modes of conduct that are accepted, and these become the "norm". Anything that deviates from this is not considered "normal".

Of course, each society, and even every person within a given society, has different ideas about what being "normal" is, so it's a pretty relative thing.

 

Bingo. That's the psychology definition and I guess I kinda agree.
Thing is what is normal changes depending on time and the place. Certain cultures have differing norms and values, meaning what may be abnormal here will seem normal there. And time has a large effect on norms, like fashion has changed in the west constantly since the 50s, is an example.

I don't generally agree with all the norms in my society but there is little I can do by myself.

 

Well all different people could have an idea of what "Normal" is. For example I might think an athletic 12 year old is normal. Another might think a Study hard 12 year old is normal. Then some might think a video game addict 12 year old is normal. No one can really be right, its all just opinion. Society may play a role in "normality" but there might be one outcast who thinks hes perfectly normal but doesn't fit in. For example a Jewish person in a most catholic community. Is that person considered not normal?

 

normal is in the middle. Your not too wild but your not too crazy. You're just basically the term,doing the same things like how a avegerage person functions correctly.

So if your blood sugar is 300 thats not good. but if its 180 its the average it should be. thats where normal comes from. It also means you don't need any help what so ever unlike other people.

 

"Normal" (mind the quotations) is just another word for "Rational" in this case. If people don't understand a behavior, then it's considered as abnormal because it doesn't cross with their perspective of what a Rational behavior is.

In other words, they view you the same way they would a clown or a mime.

Therefore, confusion ensues, rumours spread, and the word "WEIRD" becomes a new label.

 

To me, normal is anything but the very extreme.

Maybe it's just me, but it's like everyone tries to be different, that I find it weird when I meet someone who doesn't seem a little weird, if that makes sense?
Plus, there's that pre-determined, socially accepted, set definition of normal, or as Spike called it, "rational."
So even though it may not make sense, normal is "rational" and trying to be "weird."

 

I hate the words wierd and normal. To be honest I hate classification in its simplest form. Why do you have to be classified as good or bad, strong or weak, serious or foolish, normal or wierd. I hate classifiying people but I do it without even thinking about it. I am really good at reading people, but I also classify. If I see someone walking down the street like they own the place, with jewelry and fancy clothes I instantly think rich but maybe they are just wearing cheap knock offs and that is also classifying. It seems no matter what you do you can't escape classification. If you try and talk to someone then you talk to them under rules you think might apply, that is classification. The ideal of being normal lies in a state of it's own because no matter how hard you try you can never be normal everywhere and also who says being normal is a good thing. I would rather see someone running down the street in there birthday suit than seeing a person walking by in casual clothing with no expresion and nothing to say, that in its simplest form is normal, you break it down far enough and normal is nothing. Thank you for reading my little rant on classification and the topic of normal.

 

Everyone is weird in their own way, no matter how much you deny it.

People who go "derp you're weird" as an attempt at an insult are just ignorant.

 

Everyone is 'normal' in their own way. There's no weird. There's no normal(I realize I just kind of contradicted myself on the first sentence.) If you wanna call being different weird, call it weird. If you wanna call acting like everyone else normal, go ahead . Instead of using the word 'normal', try average. Average is... well... average, and that way, it fixes how insulting the word normal can sometimes seem. Instead of using the word weird, maybe use... odd, because I even find weird to be insulting.​

 

Normality is a subjectively defined concept. Get over it.

 

My personal veiw of normality? I think that it is something that some random person made up, just so that they could discrimanate against another culture, and/or start a war that they wanted, and to trick the people into wanting it too.

The term "normal" completly ruined my life for several years in school, where I was different, because of my skin color, the way I acted, what I liked to do.

Discrimanation is something that is caused by the word "normal," and belive me, I have expirienced it.

 

There is no such thing as normal, you cant "achieve" normal status. Everyone is weird in their own way. Henceforth, if everyone is weird no one can be normal correct? You cant define normal, there is AVERAGE, but thats not quite the same thing.

 

I do not really believe in the word normal, but I say that in a community (or anywhere) it is considered 'normal' when people act as what is expected of them either in behavior or other means.
Everyone is different in their own way so I say that no one is very 'normal' because of their differences.
'Normal' can also be interpereted as the moods or actions of a specific person being similar most of the time. So to me when someone is 'weird' it is because they are not acting the way that they should or that it is odd for him/her to act or be the way that they are at the moment.

 

there is no such thing as normal when describing a person, because everyone is diffrent, people call me not normal because of my hair, they say it looks like richard hammond's

http://www.rickmcginnis.com/lifewithfather/2009/TopGearHammond.jpg

but its just diffrent hair, not wierd hair, and why am i bickering on about hair? the point is that no-one is normal, because everyone is diffrent

 

Its funny how as we grow up our parents tell us that we are different and that's what makes up "special" but as we grow up people cast aside what is different and say its weird or not normal. That just confuses us more . Why is being different so wrong just because its not what they're used to . If that difference is what makes us who we are . Because what one person think is normal, it may seem weird to another person and vice versa. No one persons version of the so called 'normal' is right . So there is no such thing as normal . Its really a matter of opinion what that normal is .