Are you normal?

[jajdude]

Another question from boredom. Do we need to be fussy over the definition of normal? Let's say that most people are similar in many ways and if you are like most, say 80%, then you are normal. This regards behavior and emotion that isn't considered really strange. Or perhaps you are normal most of the time, which is probably normal too. Something I read long ago which you might know, I paraphrase: 'I'm a unique (and/or special) person, just like everybody else.'

[Paulclem]

It's funny this question of normality. When I get to know people a little, i often find little odnesses that don't add up to abnormality or strangeness, but are more like quirks or small eccentricities.

We all tend to assume that we all do everyday things in a very similar way without any evidence that this is actually the case. It makes it quite funny when you come across these things, because there are a thousand and one ways to be a little bit weird.

Best to just go along with it I find.

[Jack of Hearts]

This reader doesn't necessarily feel 'special' like he's got rare talent or destiny to fulfill...

But when he takes a look around he definitely feels 'different.' Left-over childhood Disney bologna, seems like. Probably due to run its course in the next couple of years.







J

[OrphanPip]

No, I don't think I've ever felt normal. I suppose it comes from growing up gay, raised by a manic mother, as a linguistic minority in a francophone city, with very few friends, swinging from rebel child to top of the class, struggling with depression, being atheist in a Christian home, and any other number of things that probably contributed to ****ing me up.

I do a decent job of passing myself off as normal in public.

[MANICHAEAN]

Eccentric perhaps.

It probably arises from having inherited a free-wheeling Irish imagination on my fathers side & Spanish gypsy bloodlines on my mother's.

Throw in a virtual lifetime of having worked all over God's earth & the influence that has had on me.

So perhaps no, I'm not normal in the English sense & have very little in common with your average jo back home.

[Bluehound]

Normal ? What is normal?
These days it seems to be sitting on the sofa drinking and smoking yourself to death while watching "The only way is Essex" and "Britains got Talent". Pausing, only briefly , to produce bizarre mini-me clone children, that get their first earring, asbo, spray tan or pair of high heels before they start school and have strange names like Chardonay and Milan.

If that is normal then no thanks, I am happy to be a weirdo, computer geeky, odd fish.

However that may be a little judgmental and smug, which probably means I might be kind of normal after all.

[Lokasenna]

Normaility is over-rated...

Yep, I'm an oddball by anyone's definition. But then, I suspect that most people on here are the same. If normality is defined as the general measure of the population, then we here are all pretty distinct from that - for a start, we are (obviously) a lot more interested in and engaged with literature.

I also like classical music, reading and writing poetry, and analyse medieval Scandinavian literature for a living. I'm also the only person I know under the age of fifty who wears a cardigan.

Yep, not normal. And I'm pretty happy with that.

[Panglossian]

Culture is imitation. To conform is the norm. Once a naked madman was heard to yell: “Normal does not mean compulsory! Normal does not mean compulsory!” -- Obviously the authorities marched him away and locked him up.

[papayahed]

I'd venture to say that most people are normal with the exception of a few outliers like serial killers and the truely mentally insane. We all have our little quirks and habits but those only make things more interesting. What makes liking mustard on french fries less normal than ketchup or liking poetry less normal then mountain biking?

[Paulclem]

The quest for individuality encourages one to portray oneself as quirky, weird and dangerous, but definately not normal.

Most of us are aberrations along an approximation, which makes slight eccentricities rather normal.

The really weird people are those with no humour and the standard, expected, unflinching, unbending stance that puts them spot on the normal line.

[Leo Bloom]

I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo.

[The Atheist]

Insanity is a minority of one.

Welcome to the asylum.

[Serena03]

Yes, I am merely the tree with the overbearing branches of an infinite amount of nuts...once I am stumped I will finally fit in.

[Dr.reid_16]

I believe there is no such thing as normal, we are all individuals on this planet. However, those who believe there is a normal, be aware that normal to you, is how you were raised, and what your views, morals, and everyday actions are. There is no normal in society, just in you.

[jajdude]

Surely there is normal in society, though. It's normal to wait for the red and cross at the green, to look in a store and pay and leave. There's also safety and law compelling this, sure. It's normal to mind your business among strangers and greet those you know. 'Normal' simply means what most people do.

[Maryd.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3h6pyZi88w

Hahahaha....

[Bluehound]

It's funny how none of us want to be thought of as normal.

I can't help but think of Monty Pythons Life of Brian....
"Are there any women here today?"
"No" "No" "No" comes the answer in increasingly deep fake men's voices.

:D

[Panglossian]

I'm uncertain what normal is, but these chaps are definitely abnormal ...

http://www.jahsonic.com/ElephantManHead.jpg

--from the Physica Curiosa

[Serena03]

Well didn't you all hear? Crazy is the new normal...:crazy:

[hack]

If normal means not unusual then no one is "normal". No matter how many things you do or think, that seem "normal", they do not make you any more normal than Mark Twain riding a camel, wearing Wayfarers, in a white out.

[jajdude]

Come to think of it though, I've probably only met a few people who seemed quite normal, in the sense of not really strange in any obvious way; pleasant, decent, not emotionally unpredictable, few acts of weirdness, no real dark stuff in their past as far as I knew. I'm speaking of people I got to know beyond mere acquaintance. Most people I've got to know better than superficially are full of odd.

[Gorki]

Each one of us is as eccentric as hell.
Each one of us tries to act normal.
Eventually each one of us fails to do so.
Consequentially, the average of all eccentrics is what goes to be called NORMAL !!:smash:

[jajdude]

I suppose there are different ways to look at that word. If we're just talking about the 80% or 90% or so of people who fall under that part of the curve, then most of us are normal. Others may be not normal for better or worse, though we usually think of 'abnormal' as a bad thing.

The word usually carries some emotional weight in everyday use. Idiosyncrasies are normal. Who doesn't have a few?

What is done by many is normal, strictly speaking I guess. Smoking is normal. Brushing your teeth at a bus stop is not. No one said normal means healthy or sane really, though I guess we usually give the word that kind of significance.

What it all comes down to, I imagine, is that few people are as unusual as so many believe they are. Part of this may be the idea that others seems normal, or seem to have their lives together, whereas we see all sorts of holes in our own lives and behavior.

[Gorki]

None of us are normal. We tend to behave out of league and out of fashion each day though sub consciously. At times we are aware, at times we don't realise it.

Normal are those who, on an average, behave sanely. Abnormal and paranormal are two different poles of what is called anomalous tendency. A person who beats himself up and cries that he has been beaten up is called abnormal, but a person like Abraham Lincoln with a strong sixth sense, one which can predict death is called paranormal.

[Dude]

I feel like everyone's normal to themselves, but every one else is weird to everyone else. Like, I feel that "normal" is perspective based, and an objective definition is impossible.

And I always have to wonder how crazy all the geniuses in the past must have felt. Which leads me to think that "normal" tends to be defined as "majority rules".

[Paulclem]

I had a friend once who used to originate wierd ideas in the periods when he was left to his own devices - (he used to opt out of work and subsist on uemployment benefit for periods of time). We cured this frequently by bouts of sarcasm and mickey taking, which soon brought him back to more reasonable ideas.

Since then I've seen and known people who have developed odd ideas when left alone, particularly old folks. I think we're social and need others to bounce our ideas off and to sort the wheat of genius from the chaff of wierdness.

[jajdude]

Ok.

I guess my original intent was to look at the word.

It can be defined in 3 or 4 ways.

That is all.

[1n50mn14]

Decidedly not. ;) Anybody who reads my blog can tell you that.

[Panglossian]

I'm not normal, I'm paranormal. I can fly like Superman and teleport like Captain Kirk. Unravel these bandages and I'm invisible! No word of a lie.

[The Comedian]

Me? Straight normal homey! Two kids, wife, career. . . .evening cocktails, early to bed & early to rise, daily exercise routine, 2 meals a day. . . .

I feel like I'm surrounded by weirdos here. . . .and, yes, I'm lookin' at YOU! and YOU, and most certainly Y-O-U!

[Bluehound]

2 meals a day. . . .


Which one are you missing out on you wierdo ?

[Emil Miller]

If by normal we mean the pattern of behaviour adopted by a majority of people then I would generally fall into the abnormal category.
I don't like pop music or noise (same thing in my view),don't watch television, am single, play the piano (badly), interested in history, politics and finance and write the occasional novel. I also like music, the cinema (pre 1960 with a very few exceptions), eat very little and sleep late, not interested in football and am allergic to crowds.
On the normal side I like women, booze, cats, books and spend way too much time on the computer.

[prendrelemick]

I shall admit to being normal - which makes me unusual.

[The Comedian]

2 meals a day. . . .


Which one are you missing out on you wierdo ?

Didn't you know that 2 is the new 3? Seriously, if you're eating 3 meals a day, you must live a little askance from normalcy. :lol:

Oh: And I skip breakfast -- unless you count coffee as a meal, in which case I have three helpings at breakfast.

[Noctros]

Not exactly normal myself.

Born to and raised by two loving southern parents, right in the north of Georgia.
I hate sports. I find them to be meaningless drivel solely for the entertainment of those whom are either bored, simple-minded, or have a special place for such entertainment.
I don't like going outside nor tanning, I am quite pale.
I love books, writing, video games, and psychological issues.

Honestly, no one is normal. We all have our little quirks and such that make us unique.

~Noctros

[MarkBastable]

Almost everyone is a lot more normal than they like to think they are.

[papayahed]

Almost everyone is a lot more normal than they like to think they are.


I agree.


6.9 billion people walking around on this planet, somehow I don't think our little quirks make us "stand out" against the norm.

[Emil Miller]

I agree.


6.9 billion people walking around on this planet, somehow I don't think our little quirks make us "stand out" against the norm.

If that were the case, many of the books we discuss on the forum wouldn't be under discussion.

[MarkBastable]

If that were the case, many of the books we discuss on the forum wouldn't be under discussion.

Of the myriad propositions that that gnomic sentence might convey, which was it intended to convey?

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Are you normal?

I don't care.

[MarkBastable]

I don't care.

Sounds normal.

[jajdude]

Almost everyone is a lot more normal than they like to think they are.

I like this. Is it normal to think you're not normal? What's so bad about being normal anyway? Are people afraid of being ordinary? Maybe somewhere along the line we got it in our heads that normal means boring, and surely that is the absolute worst thing to be.

[JuniperWoolf]

Are people afraid of being ordinary? Maybe somewhere along the line we got it in our heads that normal means boring, and surely that is the absolute worst thing to be.

Ding ding ding ding ding!

[Vonny]

What's so bad about being normal anyway? Are people afraid of being ordinary? Maybe somewhere along the line we got it in our heads that normal means boring, and surely that is the absolute worst thing to be.

Normal is good. Most people here are fairly normal and glad to be I'm sure:


It's normal to wait for the red and cross at the green, to look in a store and pay and leave. There's also safety and law compelling this, sure. It's normal to mind your business among strangers and greet those you know.

Being normal leads to a happier and healthier life. A person who sleeps when tired instead of staying up all night for no reason, is normal.

Most people don't want to be ordinary, they want to be (and are) unique. Especially on this site, most people aren't ordinary and boring.

To be like the average person on the street would be a curse, I think. Every woman walks around constantly with that high fructose/fat solution (known as a latte) always in her hand. The average person has some major issues that make mine look mild in comparison - and my issues are profound. My psychiatrist confirms this for me, off the record. I say to him, "It seems to me that so many people out there who are supposed to be okay are more crazy than I am." And he validates that that is true.

I was thinking about the piercings and tattoos (which I don't see much of where I live), these are all people trying to be unique and express themselves, and they can't see that they are all doing the same thing - they are all conforming - as well as wasting money and contracting hepatitis.

If a person can write a poem, or a story, or create a painting, that is being a unique individual and expressing oneself, and I think that is what normal people want to do.

And then there's a paradox that a truly interesting individual may travel a path that is considered uncool, such as researching medieval literature, if that is what inspires that person, and then the fact that that person has the confidence, and self-possession to pursue his/her true interests, while remaining completely oblivious to others who may discount them, is what then results in making that person cool.

[Emil Miller]

I was thinking about the piercings and tattoos, and weird hair (which I don't see much of where I live), these are all people trying to be unique and express themselves, and they can't see that they are all doing the same thing - they are all conforming.

That's what makes them so pathetic. :yesnod:

[/QUOTE] And then there's a paradox that a truly interesting individual may travel a path that is considered uncool, such as researching medieval literature..... [/QUOTE]

Now I wonder who that could be.:D

[G L Wilson]

Normal is good. Most people here are fairly normal and glad to be I'm sure:



Being normal leads to a happier and healthier life. A person who sleeps when tired instead of staying up all night for no reason, is normal.

Most people don't want to be ordinary, they want to be (and are) unique. Especially on this site, most people aren't ordinary and boring.

To be like the average person on the street would be a curse, I think. Every woman walks around constantly with that high fructose/fat solution (known as a latte) always in her hand. The average person has some major issues that make mine look mild in comparison - and my issues are profound. My psychiatrist confirms this for me, off the record. I say to him, "It seems to me that so many people out there who are supposed to be okay are more crazy than I am." And he validates that that is true.

I was thinking about the piercings and tattoos (which I don't see much of where I live), these are all people trying to be unique and express themselves, and they can't see that they are all doing the same thing - they are all conforming - as well as wasting money and contracting hepatitis.

If a person can write a poem, or a story, or create a painting, that is being a unique individual and expressing oneself, and I think that is what normal people want to do.

And then there's a paradox that a truly interesting individual may travel a path that is considered uncool, such as researching medieval literature, if that is what inspires that person, and then the fact that that person has the confidence, and self-possession to pursue his/her true interests, while remaining completely oblivious to others who may discount them, is what then results in making that person cool.

Vonny, well expressed. The only thing that is wrong with you, as far as I can see, is that you need some sleep.

[papayahed]

If that were the case, many of the books we discuss on the forum wouldn't be under discussion.

Explain please.

[Emil Miller]

Just that a lot of geeky people discussing esoteric literature on a forum might appear somewhat abnormal to a majority of people.

[papayahed]

Just that a lot of geeky people discussing esoteric literature on a forum might appear somewhat abnormal to a majority of people.


Just because it "might" appear that way doesn't actually make it abnormal.

In the grand scheme of the 6.9 billion people in the world how in the heck does discussing literature even come close to being something of an anomoly? Literature is discussed in schools, one can even get a degree in literature...

If we were to rate normalcy on a scale of one to 100 with abnormal being 100, I'd rate discussing literature as maybe a 5. On the other hand killing other humans and wearing their skin as a suit that would probably rate around 77.

[Emil Miller]

Just because it "might" appear that way doesn't actually make it abnormal.

In the grand scheme of the 6.9 billion people in the world how in the heck does discussing literature even come close to being something of an anomoly? Literature is discussed in schools, one can even get a degree in literature...

If we were to rate normalcy on a scale of one to 100 with abnormal being 100, I'd rate discussing literature as maybe a 5. On the other hand killing other humans and wearing their skin as a suit that would probably rate around 77.

Using my dictionary's definition of abnormal as 'not according to rule', the kind of discussions that make up the bulk of the LitNet literature forums wouldn't be considered as part of most peoples daily activity, regardless of the numerous other pursuits that may also fall within that category, whereas talking about football, pop music, television soap operas etc. would.
To that extent, discussing literature could be considered as not according to rule.

[papayahed]

Using my dictionary's definition of abnormal as 'not according to rule', the kind of discussions that make up the bulk of the LitNet literature forums wouldn't be considered as part of most peoples daily activity, regardless of the numerous other pursuits that may also fall within that category, whereas talking about football, pop music, television soap operas etc. would.
To that extent, discussing literature could be considered as not according to rule.


There's a rule against discussing literature? Just because lit. forums don't fit into most peoples activities doesn't make it abnormal. I'd venture to say that having certain interests whether its literature, music, kayaking, sewing, etc.. makes us normal.

I think your dictionary fails to adequately define the term abnormal. What does "not according to rule" actually mean?

[jajdude]

I suppose there's the professional definition or theory or what being normal means. A mental health worker can use this as a guide to help people. The word is loaded with emotion in everyday use. To say "he's not normal" is to say there is something wrong with him. "He's not like you and me. He's different." Many people are fascinated by the abnormal or deviant. I think this is clearly seen in the popularity of crime shows and books. "Abnormal" has never had a pleasant sound to it. This makes me wonder why so many believe they are not normal.

I'll go with what Mark said earlier though: "Almost everyone is a lot more normal than they like to think they are."

[MarkBastable]

...the kind of discussions that make up the bulk of the LitNet literature forums wouldn't be considered as part of most peoples daily activity...

I suspect that everyone does at least one thing that most people don't do. Which would make everyone not normal, by that definition.

[G L Wilson]

I'm the only sane one here as far as I'm concerned.

[Emil Miller]

There's a rule against discussing literature? Just because lit. forums don't fit into most peoples activities doesn't make it abnormal. I'd venture to say that having certain interests whether its literature, music, kayaking, sewing, etc.. makes us normal.

I think your dictionary fails to adequately define the term abnormal. What does "not according to rule" actually mean?


My dictionary describes 'rule' inter alia as 'regular conduct' and, in this context, contributing to literary forums isn't, according to the figure you have given for the Earth's population.


I suppose there's the professional definition or theory or what being normal means. A mental health worker can use this as a guide to help people. The word is loaded with emotion in everyday use. To say "he's not normal" is to say there is something wrong with him. "He's not like you and me. He's different." Many people are fascinated by the abnormal or deviant. I think this is clearly seen in the popularity of crime shows and books. "Abnormal" has never had a pleasant sound to it. This makes me wonder why so many believe they are not normal.

Abnormal is the correct antonym of normal but it has taken on a pejorative meaning beyond its correct usage. In order to avoid misinterpretation I think
that 'unusual' might be a better term.




I suspect that everyone does at least one thing that most people don't do. Which would make everyone not normal, by that definition.

Substitute Normal/abnormal with usual/unusual if you're dissatisfied with my original premise.

[papayahed]

My dictionary describes 'rule' inter alia as 'regular conduct' and, in this context, contributing to literary forums isn't, according to the figure you have given for the Earth's population.


Fine, if you want to be labeled abnormal I won't try to stop you. (Although I still think you're wrong)

For the record


The estimate is that there are 6,930,055,154 people, only 2,095,006,005 have internet access. Does that make internet users not normal??

[Emil Miller]

Fine, if you want to be labeled abnormal I won't try to stop you. (Although I still think you're wrong)

For the record


The estimate is that there are 6,930,055,154 people, only 2,095,006,005 have internet access. Does that make internet users not normal??

I have already described myself as such.

Why don't you ask the 4,835,049,149 who don't have internet access?

[papayahed]

I have already described myself as such.

Why don't you ask the 4,835,049,149 who don't have internet access?

You're the one bristling at being considered normal.

[Emil Miller]

You're the one bristling at being considered normal.

Nope, in my original post I also describe some of my normal traits.

[papayahed]

Nope, in my original post I also describe some of my normal traits.


ah yes, however, I would say those are all fairly normal.

I'll play it your way for a moment and I have to say that I think you mixed up some of your normal and abnormal traits.

[G L Wilson]

I have an IQ that puts me in the top 2 % of the population, yet I am capable of the dumbest things. How can you measure intelligence? How can you measure 'normal'?

[Alexander III]

To be honest I have a low IQ, roughly in the bottom 40% of the population, yet I have moments of brilliance, such as my International Baccalaureate exams; so indeed how to measure normal ?

[G L Wilson]

To be honest I have a low IQ, roughly in the bottom 40% of the population, yet I have moments of brilliance, such as my International Baccalaureate exams; so indeed how to measure normal ?

Frankly, it seems that you have done more in the way of brilliance than me. I am highly intelligent but a low achiever. It is a matter of attitude, is it not, normality?

[Vonny]

Vonny, well expressed. The only thing that is wrong with you, as far as I can see, is that you need some sleep.

Wilson, thank you, but you don't know me! I sure wish you were right about that.

You know, every time I see your name I think of a volleyball with a face drawn in blood! I hope that doesn't come across wrong, I really like the Wilson character, it's so sad when he gets lost. Cast Away is one of my brother David's favorite movies. Somehow, we can relate to Tom Hanks on that deserted island. For us it's a comfort film. Although he doesn't admit it, I think my brother especially likes the ending where Tom Hanks finds another girl.



I am highly intelligent but a low achiever. It is a matter of attitude, is it not, normality?

I have low intelligence and I'm a low achiever :lol: So I'm not normal but I'm average/ordinary, and those must be facts!

Also, a man who loves cats is considered a complete aberration in our area. My brother Mark is also a cat lover. Whenever I don't understand men, I can always find about them from him, because being a gay man he seems to understand them while also being objective. For instance, I'll ask him, "Why do all men love donuts?" And he says, "Because men love anything that is greasy and fried." I've asked him, "Why do all men love dogs? And why does any woman who is seeking a man also love dogs and hate cats?" He says it's because cats aren't considered macho. The most important thing of all, is that you're macho, whether you're male or female.

[G L Wilson]

I love women but I don't like men, Vonny, that doesn't make me normal.

[JuniperWoolf]

The estimate is that there are 6,930,055,154 people, only 2,095,006,005 have internet access. Does that make internet users not normal??

Good point. I guess that in order to accurately define what "normal" is, we have to take into account our surroundings. You take any of those latte drinking women that Vonny mentioned earlier and plop them in the middle of North Korea, and they might be considered "abnormal" by the locals.

[Revolte]

lolsauce.

All this back and forth talk of normality. I think it's safe to say normality is something that just doesn't exist in terms of human personality. Save it for the color of plants or lines on a page, or other physical characteristics. But bring it into human psychology and you aren't going to find any universal truth, which makes the concept of human normality false. It's all just cultural, and there are enough cultures and subcultures to dispel any sort of collective normality. What's 'normal' in said culture however is a bit different, but even then sense you can't apply the same rules to other cultures it's not a truth and not really normal. Unless of course nothing else exists outside of the culture (if any) that you are a part of, but that still wouldn't be true outside of the mind.

[virginiawang]

I am sad. I am not normal. It seems that I've always been kept at a distance from human beings. I cannot approach them, and they cannot approach me either. However much I tried, I am still far far away from any. Perhaps I was created as a tragedy. Perhaps things will be changed soon?

[G L Wilson]

I am sad. I am not normal. It seems that I've always been kept at a distance from human beings. I cannot approach them, and they cannot approach me either. However much I tried, I am still far far away from any. Perhaps I was created as a tragedy. Perhaps things will be changed soon?

Alienation. Jesus, join the club.

[virginiawang]

Alienation. Jesus, join the club.

What club were you refering to? Alienation?
You don't quite understand what I meant. I was not alienated in any sense of the word.

[G L Wilson]

What club were you refering to? Alienation?
You don't quite understand what I meant. I was not alienated in any sense of the word.

The club is humanity. The feeling of alienation is a part of being human.

[Alexander III]

Jeez, after reading this thread it seems that everyone on this site is loopy and miserable - anyone else like me, normal and perfectly happy with life? We need more positive voices in this thread !

[Bluehound]

Despite my earlier objections, I think I am pretty normal really.
I stay within the law and most of societies "norms" apply to me.
I am going to hold on to quirky though...I am definitely quirky .

But despite that or maybe because of it, yes , I am very happy with my life thanks.

[Buh4Bee]

Jeez, after reading this thread it seems that everyone on this site is loopy and miserable - anyone else like me, normal and perfectly happy with life? We need more positive voices in this thread !

Mirror, mirror, in the wall, who is the weirdest if us all?

[JuniperWoolf]

anyone else like me, normal and perfectly happy with life?

Happiness is a temporary emotional state that's the result of positive stimuli, like a pretty image or a tasty bite of food. It's not a continuous state because sooner or later you focus on somethng else, some stimuli that isn't positive. If you can have your attention drawn to the suffering going on all around you, all over the world (drug addiction, disease, human trafficking, starvation, pedophelia, rape, death, war, ect.), and yet can feel perpetually "happy," I'd call that abnormal.

[MarkBastable]

Happiness is a temporary emotional state that's the result of positive stimuli, like a pretty image or a tasty bite of food. It's not a continuous state because sooner or later you focus on somethng else, some stimuli that isn't positive. If you can have your attention drawn to the suffering going on all around you, all over the world (drug addiction, disease, human trafficking, starvation, pedophelia, rape, death, war, ect.), and yet can feel perpetually "happy," I'd call that abnormal.

I think you could say that any emotional state is temporary, pretty much for the reasons you give. But I also think that Alexander wasn't using the word in that sense. He was using it - as it is often used - in the sense of 'personally and generally content and at ease, incidental ups and downs aside'.

Me too.

[iamnobody]

There was a poll here once, and I think most of the votes went to very/rather happy.
(Mine was one of them.)
So, would you agree that is, in fact, "normal" to be happy?

[G L Wilson]

There was a poll here once, and I think most of the votes went to very/rather happy.
(Mine was one of them.)
So, would you agree that is, in fact, "normal" to be happy?

No, it is normal to be as miserable as sin.

[iamnobody]

I thought so.

[Alexander III]

Happiness is a temporary emotional state that's the result of positive stimuli, like a pretty image or a tasty bite of food. It's not a continuous state because sooner or later you focus on somethng else, some stimuli that isn't positive. If you can have your attention drawn to the suffering going on all around you, all over the world (drug addiction, disease, human trafficking, starvation, pedophelia, rape, death, war, ect.), and yet can feel perpetually "happy," I'd call that abnormal.

Mark answered the question for me very well -

But I would say I live in a state of happiness most of the time where the world is like it is when you are a child, and one cannot help but think that many years from now these will be looked back as the happiest times of ones life. A constant state of happiness where one knows that there is lots of pain and suffering in the world, but one couldn't particularly care, or rather one can't take it seriously, for one is so happy that everything must be happy and perfect as suffering and pain and the terrible things in this world can't be real because everything is so great.

That is what I mean by living in a constant state of great happiness and youth. Im sure I cant be the only one on these forums.

[G L Wilson]

Mark answered the question for me very well -

But I would say I live in a state of happiness most of the time where the world is like it is when you are a child, and one cannot help but think that many years from now these will be looked back as the happiest times of ones life. A constant state of happiness where one knows that there is lots of pain and suffering in the world, but one couldn't particularly care, or rather one can't take it seriously, for one is so happy that everything must be happy and perfect as suffering and pain and the terrible things in this world can't be real because everything is so great.

That is what I mean by living in a constant state of great happiness and youth. Im sure I cant be the only one on these forums.

I am sure that there are a lot of vain people on these forums.

[Vonny]

Mark answered the question for me very well -

But I would say I live in a state of happiness most of the time where the world is like it is when you are a child, and one cannot help but think that many years from now these will be looked back as the happiest times of ones life. A constant state of happiness where one knows that there is lots of pain and suffering in the world, but one couldn't particularly care, or rather one can't take it seriously, for one is so happy that everything must be happy and perfect as suffering and pain and the terrible things in this world can't be real because everything is so great.

That is what I mean by living in a constant state of great happiness and youth. Im sure I cant be the only one on these forums.

For me, I'm often extremely sad about one thing and completely ecstatic about something else at the same time. Right now I'm still sad about the recently "lost" Guardsmen who were given parades in my area, but conversely I'm equally ecstatic that LitNet has lit up again!

[Paulclem]

Mark answered the question for me very well -

But I would say I live in a state of happiness most of the time where the world is like it is when you are a child, and one cannot help but think that many years from now these will be looked back as the happiest times of ones life. A constant state of happiness where one knows that there is lots of pain and suffering in the world, but one couldn't particularly care, or rather one can't take it seriously, for one is so happy that everything must be happy and perfect as suffering and pain and the terrible things in this world can't be real because everything is so great.

That is what I mean by living in a constant state of great happiness and youth. Im sure I cant be the only one on these forums.

I think that's an honest post. Whatever is happening in the world, we can do little about most of it as individuals. There would be vanity in me implying that I care more than others concerning the wider difficulties that the world faces. How can that be compared anyway? What can any of us do about the bigger issues except the usual things like give to charity etc? So long as we respond to situations around us sensitively, we can develop our compassion to be more skillful and a bit wider encompassing. Virtually none of us will be a Bill Gates figure and be able to really affect situations.

"I'm so p****d off because of the famine in Africa"? It doesn't ring true to me. Give, support or join a charity. But smile at the next person.

[Delta40]

I'm normal. A good portion of my life is about promoting my own self-interests and that of my children. Gee I'm sorry about the starving kids in Africa. Our society is about creature comforts and affordable luxuries, usually at the expense of third world countries. I can't change that. I make conscientious choices and am an utterly ignorant about the impact other choices I make. I don't actually care as I realise my limitations in changing the world is the greatest reality. I'm not singing Imagine by John Lennon. Rather, I support organisations which I believe in. Greenpeace, Fred Hollows Foundation and Doctors without Borders. I consider normal to be a largely, law abiding individual who can expect to hit bumps in the road throughout their lives and end up wiser for it. But I'm not on a crusade to change the world. It's enough that I focus on what it is about me that I can change which will make a difference.

[Oniw17]

Hell no, I'm not normal. What do I look like some type of freak?

[Scheherazade]

Another question from boredom. Do we need to be fussy over the definition of normal? Let's say that most people are similar in many ways and if you are like most, say 80%, then you are normal. This regards behavior and emotion that isn't considered really strange. Or perhaps you are normal most of the time, which is probably normal too. Something I read long ago which you might know, I paraphrase: 'I'm a unique (and/or special) person, just like everybody else.'
Any thoughts?

[Pompey Bum]

I'm perfectly norbal.

[Darcy88]

Heck no I ain't normal. I have two diagnosed mental illnesses and a host of eccentricities besides. But I am proud of the fact and I think it adds to the richness of my life experience. When I'm not a neurotically-paralyzed shut-in like I am at present I am overwhelmed by a constant sense of wonder and a creative fecundity that the "normal" people simply do not seem to possess. Alienation is a sure sign of superiority if you ask me. That might sound pretentious but its the only conclusion I can draw from all I've seen and felt. Nothing builds character more than suffering, and a person who suffers for no discernible reason will therefore have more character than someone who merely suffers from some external imposition. The latter is normal, the former abnormal, and I'm grateful to belong to the class of the abnormal, since that seems to be the class to which all the artists and interesting individuals I admire have belonged, and if I fail in my aspirations to be equal to them at least we'll have in common the fact of our abnormality.

[YesNo]

I think people need some sort of conflict on which to make choices and build character. Without the conflict they wouldn't see the options available to them. Someone who's normal should have less exposure to such conflict.

The quote from Vonnegut seems appropriate. Practicing art is a way to make your soul grow.

[Danik 2016]

I believe any one has his conflicts. But to grow through conflicts is an art.

[New Secret]

Normal is the social average, what is considered the 'public standard'. 'Normal' under this definition isn't always correct or logical. If to be 'normal' one must be like everyone else and behave in the way that is accepted by the majority then you are vulnerable when the crowd decides to turn green and lynch mob folks in secret. What then, murder would be 'normal'? Unless etiquette is your definition of normal then the 'conform to social standard' normal is definitely as dangerous for you as being banished out of the crowd.

Personally, I am of sound mind and body and I function well within a healthy society. I am not of the average with intelligence or taste and consider myself a 'cut-above' the crowd. If by "higher quality" you elude to being "not normal" then I must confess that I cannot be considered for the part of "plain m&m". So you can say, if society weren't healthy, then I would not be normal.

[Helga]

No, I don't think I am normal, but I think I'm OK, and half normal maybe.

I grew up with a mom who is extremely normal and I say it with a serious mind that it has always troubled her how 'not' normal her kids are. Me and my two brothers have always been different. Especially me and my oldest brother. As a kid my mom kept telling me how happy she was when she had a girl (me), someone to talk with about clothes and I was probably just 6 when she first told me that when I'd be 16 she was going to give me a spot in a seminar about make-up. I never wanted that seminar and now she has to deal with a 30 year old daughter who bought playstation4 for the money she got on her big three-o birthday.

This is not an example of me not being normal though, mainly just what bugs my mom about me. I wasn't the daughter she thought she was getting.

I have social anxieties and OCD. I can't talk to the opposite sex without offending them or belittling me. I am not on any social media (except this one and goodreads) I have a phone that can only be used to make phonecalls and text, witch doesn't seem weird but for some reason that is seen as very odd here on the ice.

My interests have always been different than most girls around me and they did make fun of me when I was a teenager for reading Shakespeare and being a vegetarian, both are closer to 'normal' now then they were 15 years ago so maybe the world is just finally catching up with me.

[YesNo]

It occurred to me as I walked back from the library this evening that I don't really ask myself if I am normal. I have two arms, two legs, one head. That's what I think normal means. I don't feel sad. I don't try to make other people feel sad. That just causes needless trouble. You don't want other people to think you are not normal. So I guess I'm normal. Or maybe normality is just a cover for something else.

[Ecurb]

98.6 (Fahrenheit).

[Jack of Hearts]

Maybe this question should've been: "Are you regular?"





J

[Amany]

Hello

[Esperanza]

I'm not normal, I'm sure. The problem is that our society leave no room for being different, you can be judged as crazy, depressive, or you are a covard or unable to follow the rules of politeness. Sometimes I would like to overstep but it can have consecuences.

[kiz_paws]

Of course I am NOT normal!
And I am fine with that, ha ha!