# Do you consider yourself normal? Why or why not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822 "2013-03-02T14:18:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/41 "2013-03-03T06:48:38Z")
My mother spent 36 years trying to normalize me, 30 on Middlebro. Finally one day we lost our patience and told her “Mom, we’re NOT normal! We’re engineers! There’s still people in the world who can’t read, there’s millions of people who never got to eight grade, we’re not just part of the privileged few who got to college, but we’re engineers. How much of the world’s population is engineers? We’re not normal, and if normal means ‘the way most people are’, we don’t want to be normal!” Boy, it’s a pity we hadn’t given her that speech ten years before, it’s what finally got her to stop trying to normalize us… INE, the Statistics Bureau of the Spanish Government, has these polls they send to “randomly chosen” small companies every year. I’ve been “randomly chosen” every year since I became self-employed. Littlebro’s theory is that the dice are loaded my way because, unlike the immense majority of people, I answer before being threatened with 3K+ fines; that I also give them unexpected information, that I point out flaws in the poll itself, is just icing on the cake. I’m not normal, but from the point of view of a bunch of statiscians who work for me, I’m a very desirable kind of outlier 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/42 "2013-03-03T06:54:33Z")
Sometimes I think that I’m a bit weird, sometimes I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/43 "2013-03-03T06:57:13Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Sometimes I think that I’m a bit weird, sometimes I don’t. Do you ever feel like a nut? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/44 "2013-03-03T07:08:21Z")
I am not normal. I wish that made things better for me, but it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/45 "2013-03-03T07:21:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Do you ever feel like a nut? [Never.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TA3c1YqCiI) ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/46 "2013-03-03T08:03:03Z")
Everyone is weird, so that makes me normal (most of the time) in my weirdness. If you think anyone is “normal,” you haven’t spent enough time with them. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/47 "2013-03-03T08:07:32Z")
People, the definition of normal is statistical. If you lie somewhere between Charles Manson on one end, and Richard Simmons on the other end, then chances are you’re normal. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/48 "2013-03-03T10:35:12Z")
Certifiably normal. Got the papers to prove it. Had to take a long psychological test thingy before getting gastric bypass surgery. Went in to the therapist to discuss the results, and she said, “I shouldn’t even be talking to you. We are only to address results that fall above and below the center line in these (maybe) ten categories.” She showed me the chart…every single one of my scores was hovering right smack dab around the center line…not a one dipped or rose into the worrisome area. She then told me she’d never had anyone else score so evenly, which I have to worry about, because that would make me the only normal one in the room, right? ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/49 "2013-03-03T10:51:15Z")
There is no such thing as “normal”. In my long experience of looking after people that are sick, and in general, I have come to the conclusion that if there was a “normal”, it’d be more about being mentally disturbed to some degree than some idylic sane and balanced existence. IMO we all want to be “normal” to fit in and be popular, but few if any achieve anything that comes near that mythic state. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/50 "2013-03-03T12:48:24Z")
Not normal. My mother had me tested. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/51 "2013-03-03T17:45:19Z")
I’m probably a bit more normal than many. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/52 "2013-03-03T18:41:12Z")
Growing up Gay when I did sort of put the kibosh on ever feeling totally normal…although I do feel “normal” in most everyday situations and being Gay has not been an issue for many, many decades. There are, however, many times I just feel like an alien - I can’t high-five or watch sports games or even pretend I am a part of that crowd. I sort of hate crowds - so being a part of one drives me nuts. I am fine at smaller parties, but when you get to the bigger parties or events where “everybody is joining in the fun”, look for me ducking out the side entrance. For instance - I am quite proud and happy to be American. Living in Europe I was the source of info for locals, and would always be in the position of defending misconceptions about the USA. I was a rather vocal ambassador for the good ol’ USA. But here in the US, it drives me absolutely nuts to have to stand and say the Pledge or sing the National Anthem or do any of those mass-patriotic, jingoistic traditions. While some might find those things a wonderful expression of freedom, I find it a form of forced submission; if you don’t join in, you have to be some kind of commie terrorist 'Mercian hater. I might add I also loathe being anywhere where it is required to bow my head, close my eyes and listen to some useless prayer in a solemn manner. I guess I don’t have to say I am not a fan of organized religion - another “abnormal” aspect. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/53 "2013-03-04T18:40:19Z")
I like to say that I’m as weird as a person can possibly get without being creepy. People are either really into my weirdness and fully embrace it, or they don’t really know what to do with me. I can be both really emotionally intense and really ridiculously silly, and both are off-putting for some people. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/54 "2013-03-04T19:36:58Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I like to say that I’m as weird as a person can possibly get without being creepy. I think the gold standard there wouldn’t be “creepy” but rather “subject to involuntary commitment.” Just sayin’. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jools)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/55 "2013-03-04T20:17:45Z")
I am boringly normal, and I’ve learned to live with it. Though sometimes the filter between my brain and mouth stops working and I pretty say whatever comes to mind but that’s a minor quirk! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/56 "2013-03-04T20:30:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > People, the definition of normal is statistical. If you lie somewhere between Charles Manson on one end, and Richard Simmons on the other end, then chances are you’re normal. Agreed > [@Johanna](#): > > “Other.” It’s (potentially) a trick question. There’s no right answer. There’s no clear definition of the term “normal person” nor any objective scale by which such a vague concept as “normal person” can be measured or evaluated. Scientifically, it’s a poorly-formed question to which any answer is unfalsifiable. Agreed I don’t worry about normal/abnormal or weird/stolid or whatever dichotomies one can create. Am I happy? Do I effectively navigate life? Do I have a strong network of friends and family? If I can answer all these with Yes then I don’t worry about being weird or different. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/57 "2013-03-05T01:34:13Z")
Not normal. I do an awesome job of faking normal due to years of studying what humans do. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/58 "2013-03-05T20:14:38Z")
I don’t know what normal is, but like 87% of the population I am above average. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/59 "2013-03-07T00:32:19Z")
I’ve never felt normal. Reasons for this include some pesky brain chemistry, somewhat offbeat interests and life experiences, a certain nonchalance towards gender roles and a non-standard family model. Now, that’s how I _feel_ but I’m pretty certain most people who encounter me think I’m pretty normal. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822/60 "2013-03-07T02:34:04Z")
Through work and life experience I have come to grips with the idea you would have to define too many subsets before the words ‘normal’ and ‘me’ would overlap. That’s because there are too many types of people in this world, this nation, this state, etc to make the comparison with who I am and say ‘as a member of this group I am normal.’ So no, I cannot in any good concience say I am normal. I can say without a doubt I am happy, and that’s the only real category that concerns me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-yourself-normal-why-or-why-not/651822.md?page=4)