Do you consider yourself normal or weird?

[ILTWL]

YABU - normal
YANBU - weird

I'm not quiet at all but I'm very introverted and prefer to be at home with my DH and pets! I've been the total opposite at other times in life but it drained me and made me feel pathologically anxious. I love a quiet life.

The question means judging our internal selves by others’ external presentation , so surely we’re mostly going to thing we are weird as we’re aware of all those parts of ourselves that deviate from the majority.

I am distinctive, or original, or quirky, or eccentric, or weird when I compare myself to a lot of people.

But I know my inner thoughts and opinions, hobbies and personality traits. I just have a surface knowledge of most of the people around me, plus what they choose to share on social media, so they seem Normal in ways I am not.

That’s why you get 85% saying they are weird.

They aren’t “we’re all mad, us!” at all - they are just seeing their inner quirks and comparing them to other people’s public personas.

Depends what you mean by weird. If you mean a bit kooky, ie weird in a cool, endearing, annoying but ultimately loveable way, then I think I might be normal! If, however, you mean weird in an inept, socially awkward, always feeling like everyone else except you received a copy of the rule book for life kind of way, then I'm most definitely weird😅😅

This is the same as me! I’m comfortable in who I am and what I do, but it’s still nice to know that I’m not alone and that there are other people like me!

86% of people think they're weird and only 14% think they are normal.

.. Statically that means all the people who think they are weird are in fact completely normal and only the normals are actually weird.

You do skew the results by asking on an internet forum, and particularly on AIBU, where everyone seems to be completely bonkers at all times.

Or: lies, damned lies and statistics.

Weird.
I try and remember that boring is in the eye of the beholder, but my own passions of politics, ancient history, Italy, radio 4 and documentaries set me aside from a status quo.

Even MN standards ellude me; never had Botox, never had my nails done, house is small, never owned a designer bag, never drink, enjoy combat sports and classical music.

I treat MN as a litmus test for how I gauge small talk in the office 😄

I’m a duck as well! Maybe it’s more normal than I thought.

I feel as though I'm normal but I'm neurodivergent so answered weird, because being weird is a fairly significant part of the diagnostic criteria. My friendship group skews very neurodivergent though, so that is my normal.

I have to say, Mumsnet is seriously, depressingly, odd about social interaction. I console myself with thinking that people aren't really like that- they just for some reason say they are on here. I've very rarely met people as mean spirited and selfish as many on here seem to be.

I agree. Either people hide their true selves irl or there are people who never go out and just make up shit online.

I fear like the recent survey about how many men would have sex with children if they knew they would never be caught, there are many many more arseholes in the world than we realise. In an anonymous forum they can spout their bile.

I have to admit to being more about online than irl. Where irl I might be internally rolling my eyes, online I might say what I really think. But that stops short of bullying or trolling people.

More like 'for the love of god, it's not going to get better. Cut your losses' whereas to a work collegue I might be more reserved and be more of a sounding board.

I’m happy, but if I go by what I see on Bumble I am definitely weird. Everyone seems to love travelling. I quite enjoy a holiday to Norfolk or Wales where I can take my dog-but the expectation seems to be you love city breaks or “travelling”

There is also a separate rant to be had about people saying “travelling” when they just mean they enjoy holidays… might go and start that ranty thread later

I'm weird. I beat to my own drum, always have done since I was a young child.