Risks of obliterating 'normal'?

Post Reply New Topic

Majority isn't the same as normal. In fact I'd say most norms are pretty idealized with few if any conforming completely to them.

There are lots of norms that are also based on the past, and barely reflect the present at all.

Normal=the standard. There will ALWAYS be a standard. It allows people to judge others. Without that ability, I don't think people would be too happy

Glory glory diversification. Pick your ism and start complaining, demanding, and protesting. I'm laying claim to aspieism. Now just leave me alone.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21334565

That was with the DSMIV.

With the DSMV and introductions of new disorders like Internet Use disorder, this is likely going to reach close to 100%, at some point in the future for both youth and adults.

This is a site for autism, but there is no site for normal. In someways future shock has already arrived, but people adapt, in whatever manner they can. Some of the new disorders are new as a result of cultural changes; there really are no longer any common elements of culture in the US as a whole. It requires a focal point, that only disaster can bring, like 9/11, where everyone has a common stake.

Actually I'd have to disagree with the last point. There's Glee, there's Dancing With The Stars, Jersey Shore, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry; our country's set to go great places and do great things.

like techstep says though, if there is no normal, there would be no imperative to normalise the abnormal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_television_broadcasts

I know you are kidding, but common viewing of TV shows, as far as a common element in society is something that in part measures this phenomenon as we have moved from 3 broadcast stations to over a thousand. (not to mention the interent, etc, etc., etc.)

The most popular show for the last decade American Idol, gains about 15 million viewers each week, which is about 5 percent of the population. Whereas a Mash episode from the 80's garnered over 100 million viewers. Even the super bowl rarely measures more than 12 or 13 percent of the population. There is a nook and cranny for every mouse to go, no longer are people pigeon holed into limited choices in culture.

Culture creates the norm, and when there are a million choices, it becomes harder to find a common reference point, as to what the heck it even is.

It is amazing to think that nearly half the population watched a 30 minute TV show a few decades back, but it is both evidence of how much culture has changed both in complexity, and as one that provides common elements that most can identify with on a personal level.

What might be more interesting is for someone to define the definition of either what the cultural norm is or what a normal person is or does in life. While American Idol is actually considered a norm in American culture, it's only something that about 5 percent of the population participates in viewing on any given week. The SuperBowl and Olympics are a larger one but only happen once a year or once every four years, with close to 13 percent of the population tuning in.