Eccentric

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Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
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#1
Im not one to judge anyones behaviour except my own

But then I was thinking, how do we really know about the motes in our own eyes as to what is even normal or not? And is 'normal' necessarily right or wrong or just what the majority do?

I started reading this book called NeuroTribes 'The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity'
The first chapter was about some eccentric men who were so singleminded that they made important discoveries that now underpin our knowledge of the universe, based on all their meticulous measurements and experimenting.

The eccentricities of these guys were things like

they wore the same clothes everyday, ate the same food, and never had direct eye contact with anyone they spoke with
They were awkward in social situations and didnt enjoy parties and frivolous conversations
they were reclusive and didnt talk much
they focused on maths and science
theey were introverts

to me it just sounds like regular behaviour for a bunch of engineers, which to me is normal for engineers... but what do I know?

if everyone brilliant or that uses their brain is deemed crazy and eccentric, then who exactly IS normal? The people that only use 10 percent of it?
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,379
9,387
113
#2
Im not one to judge anyones behaviour except my own
Bull! :p

if everyone brilliant or that uses their brain is deemed crazy and eccentric, then who exactly IS normal? The people that only use 10 percent of it?
That depends on how you define normality, which in large part depends on how you define humans. Is normality defined by the majority? Is normality defined by doing what God said we should be doing?

If there are four soda machines in a row and three of them are out of order, non-functional could be seen as normal because that is the majority.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,379
9,387
113
#3
The shorthand version I heard was that poor people are crazy while rich people are eccentric.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#4
haha

I'm normal for me, everyone else is crazy

according to my Collins concise dictionary, the word normal,derives from the Latin normalis comforming to the carpenters square

why be ordinary when you can be...extraordinary

My second chapter in talks about parents of autistic children spending tens of thousands of dollars on treatments for them, and as far as I know, this is what Temple Grandin had, a nanny, speech therapy, and private boarding school as special education, which her mother could afford (her father was wealthy, but he wanted her in an institution, while her mother fought tooth and nail to get her treated)

as far as eccentric goes, if you have money to indulge sure you can be an artist though it just may not pay the bills is all. And thats what govts require, everyone to be functioning bill payers right? lol
 
J

JAPOV

Guest
#5
Normal to serve God?
The Jews should have cornered that market by now... :geek:

But then I was thinking, how do we really know about the motes in our own eyes as to what is even normal or not? And is 'normal' necessarily right or wrong or just what the majority do?
Psychology can be defined as the statistical study of human behavior... That's why psychiatrists just drug everybody :giggle:
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
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#7
I think every parent should spend tens of thousands on their children lol

shouldnt all children be special anyway?

as for psychiatry or psychology...statistical ppl seem obsessed with averages. I dont think people really care about averages, but this is what you get when you start comparing and grading people.

its interesting that, in the Bible, Jacob and Esau, who were both TWINS were so different from each other, which goes to show that, God likes variety
 
J

JAPOV

Guest
#8
I think every parent should spend tens of thousands on their children lol

shouldnt all children be special anyway?

as for psychiatry or psychology...statistical ppl seem obsessed with averages. I dont think people really care about averages, but this is what you get when you start comparing and grading people.

its interesting that, in the Bible, Jacob and Esau, who were both TWINS were so different from each other, which goes to show that, God likes variety
You are truly BLESSED!! :giggle:
 

Robertt

Well-known member
May 22, 2019
899
320
63
Bahrain
#9
Normal to me means performing as we are designed to be

So believing in God I think normal is following his desires and his will

Now whether we are Autistic or otherwise different doesn’t make us non normal . Fir has a plan fir us and we need to find that plan follow the road laid out

Until we find Gods will in our lives then we are abnormal
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
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#10
I studied some psychology in university, there was one paper that had a text book called 'abnormal behaviour' and Im sure all the psych students started diagnosing themselves

for the most part I cannot remember much of those papers anymore.

But there were things like anorexia, borderline personality, homosexuality, hysteria, phobias, alcoholism and a whole heap of others that are deemed abnormal behaviour

that in the end, the only normal behaviour ends up being the psychiatrists who make the DSM-VII or whatver it is now because everyone else seems crazy except for them
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#11
personally I find pyschiatrists a bit nuts
They want to find out as much as they can about you so they can give you drugs...like everyone who is odd can somehow be fixed with the right pill. But it doesnt work that way

or maybe the 'talking cure' which is a bit strange because talking about a problem (and paying them to listen to you) to someone doesnt necessarily resolve it.

I prefer the 'prayer and fasting' method