To think there is no such thing as normal?

[LittleMissGerardButlerfan]

I hate the word 'normal' and think there is no such thing?

We are all different, have different opinions, do things differently and that doesn't mean one is right and one is wrong?

Is there such a thing as normal and if so what is it?

I certainly don't see myself as normal, I have OCD and anxiety and like to think I'm individual :o

I'm normal.

But no-one else is.

Well, scientifically speaking, there is such a thing as normal (ie "conforming to the norm"). "Normal" is what most people do/look like/think etc.

However, that doesn't mean that lots of people do not conform to the norm, and think/look/behave slightly or very differently. There is nothing wrong with being abnormal.

People can be normal in some ways, but abnormal in other ways. eg, someone could conform to the norms in the way they vote (for one of the three main parties), but be abnormal/individual in the way that they dress.

I'm totally normal. It's you lot who are utterly fricking insane, frankly.

Examples:
Living in a house is "normal" for the UK population. Living in a caravan is not "normal" when compared to the UK population as a whole - though it would be considered "normal" for some sectors of society.

At 5'2" I am not of "normal" height, when compared to the UK population as a whole.

I send my kids to a state school - that's "normal". Sending them to a fee paying school is not "normal" where I live. But if I was a member of the nobility, it might be "normal" to use a fee paying school.

If I voted Green, that would not be "normal". Voting Con, Lab or Lib Dem is "normal".

I would say that suffering from OCD is not "normal", because the majority of people do not suffer from OCD. It doesn't mean you are inferior though.

I like saying 'Act normal' to my friends when we pass the police in the street for a bit of a laugh like

The exemplification of "normal" varies in time and space, but if you use it to indicate the characteristics that occur with the highest frequency, then the UK norm would be Caucasian/straight/able-bodied/IQ 100/blah blah. Of course, labelling such traits as "normal" has the often unpleasant implication that deviation from this is "abnormal". It shouldn't always be taken as an unpleasant implication, but it's a fine line to tread.

I'd prefer to describe myself as "average". That carries a tone of self-deprecation, and doesn't really say anything negative about those who don't fall into the "average" categories.

As to whether we are all "normal", I think the vast majority of people are. In fact, I'd say (probably not entirely originally) that the most normalising feature of humans is the tendency to think that we are individually abnormal/quirky/out there/different. Ugh.