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Ever sit and think about what qualifies as normal? I've heard things like "be normal"--"Act normal"--"A normal person,"--"Normal life." So, what is normal? Someone from california might think normal is hitting the beach,barbequein,drink a six-pack every night normal, but someone from Rhode Island might think that kind of behavior is rediculous so lets get back to my nice normal sweater and bowl of clam chowder. I could go on--but seriously, what is normal?
Ever sit and think about what qualifies as normal? I've heard things like "be normal"--"Act normal"--"A normal person,"--"Normal life." So, what is normal? Someone from california might think normal is hitting the beach,barbequein,drink a six-pack every night normal, but someone from Rhode Island might think that kind of behavior is rediculous so lets get back to my nice normal sweater and bowl of clam chowder. I could go on--but seriously, what is normal?
Hi seradee,
Wow, that's probably one of the most talked about concepts around and around and around. My immediate answer is "does it even Matter"? I don't think there is such a thing as normal except as contrived in the mind of an individual. If all the normal people hang together and talk about how all the "misfits" are so stupid and disgusting then, that's us and them psychology. What is wrong with the world? We look for differences more than we recognize and celebrate our similarities. We try to appear "more than" because we feel "less than." Why do we fear being "less than?" Because it isn't normal! Why is it important to appear normal? Because all the normal people do it. What is normal? It doesn't matter! Jesus says, somewhere in the New Testament, "your care for others is the measure of your worth."
Simone
'act normal' always makes me *laugh* because it implies you don't know how to BE normal but have to act the part.
In some cases all too true!
In my 20's I liked thinking about the differences between normal, abnormal, abnormal normal and normal abnormal.
Then again they are somewhat subjective because what was not acceptable in the 50's or 60's IS normal now and the dysfunctional family issues and so forth have become the normal abnormal.
Also I think many people use the 'what is normal?' as an excuse for not wanting to accept a standard.
Normal is the what a society agrees on as moral, values and acceptable behavior to get along with others so
society isn't chaotic --for the most part. But as times change and people change the 'norm' adjusts with it for the good or the bad.
Ever sit and think about what qualifies as normal? I've heard things like "be normal"--"Act normal"--"A normal person,"--"Normal life." So, what is normal? Someone from california might think normal is hitting the beach,barbequein,drink a six-pack every night normal, but someone from Rhode Island might think that kind of behavior is rediculous so lets get back to my nice normal sweater and bowl of clam chowder. I could go on--but seriously, what is normal?
"Normal" is a stereotyped word that everyone uses to make oneself feel good or bad(at times).
Someone living in a snowbound area will not think it is normal to have a cold shower,but a person in a humid place will welcome a cold shower as being the normal thing to do.
Normal is as others have already said very much an individual thing.
A kid from an abused household might think it is the normal thing and that it happens in every household.And until this kid know different he/she will continue with her view of normal until someone points out differently or they see for themselves...
But then when it comes to measurements of development psychologically or physiologically,normal might be the standard to test,when checking for abnormalities.
The definition of 'normal' is, at least in my perspective, more of a sociological question than a philosophical one. The 'norm' is what is most widely accepted by society in the time and place you are referring to. The typical use of the word 'normal' has been adapted and integrated into modern language as something different than it's sociological basis, however, and is now used to basically mean whatever the individual perceives as the 'right' way to be. However, as this is still impacted by the social atmosphere the individual is in, the real philosophical question might be more along the lines of... why do people, who exist within the same society and social groups, develop differing perspectives of what is 'normal' (aka right and acceptable according to the most frequent usage of the term)? Because what 'normal' is can be pretty easily defined. Why people develop the ideas they do about what is or is not 'normal' is, to me, a more intriuging question.
Ever sit and think about what qualifies as normal? I've heard things like "be normal"--"Act normal"--"A normal person,"--"Normal life." So, what is normal? Someone from california might think normal is hitting the beach,barbequein,drink a six-pack every night normal, but someone from Rhode Island might think that kind of behavior is rediculous so lets get back to my nice normal sweater and bowl of clam chowder. I could go on--but seriously, what is normal?
Normal is achieving the level of mediocrity expected of you.
The definition of 'normal' is, at least in my perspective, more of a sociological question than a philosophical one. The 'norm' is what is most widely accepted by society in the time and place you are referring to. The typical use of the word 'normal' has been adapted and integrated into modern language as something different than it's sociological basis, however, and is now used to basically mean whatever the individual perceives as the 'right' way to be. However, as this is still impacted by the social atmosphere the individual is in, the real philosophical question might be more along the lines of... why do people, who exist within the same society and social groups, develop differing perspectives of what is 'normal' (aka right and acceptable according to the most frequent usage of the term)? Because what 'normal' is can be pretty easily defined. Why people develop the ideas they do about what is or is not 'normal' is, to me, a more intriuging question.
The author of the OP, by the examples written asks for a subjective definition. There is though a definition of ‘Normal’ in science that is philosophical, and Georges Canguilhem has written a book on it…” The Normal and the Pathological.”
"When is a disease not a disease? ... Is it valid to talk of a person being ill without a disease or having a disease without being sick? All these problems - of definition, demarcation and decision - we feel are special to medicine today. It is chastening, therefore, to be reminded that the questions underlying them were being analyzed, with great perspicacity, by the French philosopher and historian of science, Georges Canguilhem, in a work written in 1943 and now gratifyingly back in print in an English translation."
-- Roy Porter, London Review of Books
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