There is no “normal.” No one stands alone as a prime example of “well and truly ordinary.” It is an average, an approximation, a set of ideas intended to convey a baseline of socially acceptable parameters for general interaction. Being a social construct, the notion of “normal” is acquired sensationally and through experience. The meaning of the word will vary as much as the mouths which speak it while no definition could ever be documented for broad agreement.
I have always been easily identified as one who defies the bounds of normality, yet the language to describe where I actually stand is quite lacking. For my deviations from accepted tolerances, I was made to feel “less than” simply for standing out in any regard, as the nature of my differences have never been professionally determined. So I learned to blend in. That sure didn’t do me any favors. Now I understand why I stand out, and considering what it would mean to be “accepted,” I quite prefer isolation.
From a dictionary, we can see that one of the implications of “normal” as an ordinary word (as opposed to referencing a set of standards) is “functioning in a natural way.” As such, I find it quite comical that anyone could look at modern human behavior and consider any of it to be naturally occurring and otherwise acceptable. What is effectively “natural” to the point of normality is all manner of depravity.
Otherwise, why would normal, as commonly conceived, entail restraining that which is natural? What need is there for a rule unless it is to punish those who would violate it? So if “normal” is normal, why would we need laws against rape? Because no normal person would commit such a heinous act. Or would they? How might you gauge the accuracy of your own definition of “normal?”
This is the human condition, we assume certainty where none can be and render ambiguous what should be plain. What is typical and natural is destructive and violent. Basic, common, and vulgar all share in referencing something everyone knows, but it is vulgarity that best expresses the undesirable sensation of engaging with those universalities which incur disgust.
Few would fail to recoil at their bare foot stepping in a pile of excrement. It behooves us to draw back from such foul things. It’s obvious from even a cursory investigation that feces on our foot is a repulsive thing to endure. And yet there are those in the world in large numbers who would coat themselves in the feces of a sacred creature for some idea that doing so benefits them. My point is that even the clearest indicators of something being wrong can be twisted in the human mind to become something tolerable, even admirable or right.
And thus I see many wallowing in such filth. As dogs sniffing each other’s foul orifices, so many make vile exchanges, giving of their lives to obtain some paltry pleasure. We destroy ourselves and this is entirely normal. The prevalence of these weaknesses is such that they are assumed to be there even if they are not. And so our patterns are established and we reject what doesn’t fit as if our patterns are the only correct ones. So when I don’t fit those patterns, I am rejected.
I am nothing like the masses. I am not more valuable than anyone and I don’t think myself any better, I am simply disgusted by what most chase after all their lives. I am grieved by the inability of the commoner to even see what they are doing from any perspective outside of the self-centered obsession they live in every waking moment. It’s like I’m over-leveled in a video game and have lost interest in all prescribed goals, so I wander about in search of glitches and other unexpected entertainment. I will lose nothing when the plug is pulled for being so tired of the game.
I see the mixed capitalization of sarcastic responses already. “NoT liKe ThE OTherS.” The weakest of all responses, a mocking restatement. If that’s the only way you can communicate your disdain for your own lack of comprehension, then so be it. People are so quick to display the futility of trying to speak with them that it has saved me a great deal of wasted time and effort. These contrasts are even more stark in person, as I speak like I write, and I waste no effort in search of acceptance. It’s so much easier to be myself. Besides, inclusion barely registers for me as a desire, even if I could enjoy playing with the legos and tinkers toys everyone else is.
One would think a philosophy forum would be more welcoming of varied thought, but as always, “moderators” are here to protect us from overstepping any of those important lines in the sand. I’ve yet to find someone who reacts to a concept fully on this forum, as all responses thus far have chosen to focus on some tiny fraction of an idea I presented and pretend it’s all I wrote. It may well be that I suck at writing. But I consider it equally likely that the vast majority simply won’t look up an unfamiliar word, let alone spend a moment to consider the meaning of a complex sentence.
If I annoy you by virtue of my presence and strange language, worry not. I won’t be making another post here after the dismal failures of my prior attempts. Don’t get me wrong, I have no hope here. I despise hope. But for the potential, I consider this final outreach merited. I won’t need to wait long for my answers. And you won’t need to push hard to ensure I never return.
