The problem of 'normal'

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by James R, Jul 20, 2018.

  1. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    Or it could be, "Norm al." Norm all. No room for everything?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2018
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  3. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    A QI program I watched a few days ago mentioned a survey taken to find the average person

    Measured numerous aspects and averaged out each one

    Once they had calculated what the average person should be like they tried to find the person

    Could not

    Not a single person matched all of the averages. Which really should not be a surprise

    You are unique just like everybody else

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  5. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    Unique? Un-iqu-ed? I wonder what it's like to be, "iqu."
     
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  7. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    You stand in line like everyone else

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  8. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    Lol! I think not Mickey. Perhaps the clue is in ubiquitous. Ubi-quit-ous? Whatever, I would write it is ub-iqu-it-ous; the opposite of iquous. And people say English is the most difficult (hardest) language.
     
  9. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    I split it as i qu

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  10. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    "Que," is spelled q.u.e.. I think iquous is a word (pro-noun-ced ickuous.)

    It's not a word. I just checked. But it should be. The suffix, "-ique" was though. Spelt as YOU read it! ☺

    Un-ique
    Obl-ique

    Can't think of any more.

    Que-st-ion?
    Que-st?
    Re-que-st?
    Bar-be-que?
    Qu-ar-rel?
    Qu-it-e
    Qu-i-et
    Qu-ar-ry?
    Qu-al-it-y?

    (Al being an a-brev-iation (brief; brevity) for all. Also used is Ali or Allah. Et meaning "and." Any student should know this for qu-ot-ing so-urc-es, "et al" ("and all.")
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2018
  11. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    Any student should know

    et al.
    /ˌɛtˈɑːl/ /ˌɛtˈæl/
    abbreviation

    and others — used to shorten a list of names
    [+] Example sentences
    ◊ The abbreviation et al. comes from a Latin phrase that means “and others.”

    http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/et al.

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  12. RainbowSingularity Valued Senior Member

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    what of those who aspire to be normal ?
    the picket fence brigade ...
    is their colectivism a sub group of normalcy ?
     
  13. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    It's too soon to say. ☺
     
  14. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    Abnormal is seldom considered/used to mean not normal. A simple example
    Abnormal implies some negative connotation.
     
  15. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    ///
    I may not be normal but nobody is - line from a Willie Nelson song

    <>
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2018
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  16. river

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    The problem with " normal " is that it becomes a defined way of thinking for the mainstream populace and therefore becomes dogmatic .
     
  17. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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  18. iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    Or even fictional.
    Potempkin normality is common.
     
  19. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    I wonder if sometimes we mistake ''normal'' for merely conforming to societal constructs. Those who don't conform, are dubbed ''abnormal.''
     
  20. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Yes.
     
  21. river

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    Agreed .

    In any population of Humans , communities there will be those that look at things , the world ; scientifically , politically , etc . , differently , as it should be .

    Any community any where on this planet will have a member(s) that exceed the general populace . In awareness and understanding .
     
  22. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    How else would we define it? Normal by definition is what most people are doing. If you are outside of that you are abnormal.

    That doesn't mean that you aren't healthy. In a population where almost everyone smokes, if you don't smoke you are abnormal for that population.
     
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  23. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Indeed. So then the question becomes: when did normal become preferred, and when did abnormal become undesirable?
     

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