"Who is Normal?” A look into what “normal” really means, and an attempt to address misconceptions

[philbo]

Actually the Latin meant "plumb" (see the Oxford Latin Dictionary). And as for etymology:
"Middle French, French perpendiculaire (adjective) vertical (1380 as perpendiculer ; also in Middle French as perpendiculier ), at a right angle (1637), (noun) a straight line at right angles to a line or plane (1567) and its etymon classical Latin perpendiculāris situated at right angles to a line or plane, a straight line at right angles to a line or plane < perpendiculum perpendicle n. + -āris -ar suffix1. Compare Old Occitan perpendicular (c1350), Catalan perpendicular (1512), Spanish perpendicular (a1428 or earlier), Italian perpendicolare (14th cent. as perpendiculare)."
(OED)
Mathematicians who don't use perpendicular tend to use orthogonal (which means "right/correct angle"), or refer to a "norm", not "normal".
Right meaning, wrong derivation. Perpendicular isn't etymologically related to "norma" but is closer to the meaning of perpendicular, hence the etymology.

Sorry, that was not explained exactly: I didn't mean the derivation of the two words was similar, just that "normal" also means, mathematically speaking "at right angles to" which is close to the word "normal"'s derivation.. perhaps "orthogonal" would have been the better word to use.

Very true (and quite important).

 

[Thief]

In other words, as long as you believe in your concept of normal, whatever that is, that's all that counts . . . in your world.. . . . . . . . . . Understood.


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are you not unique?
and you do feel 'normal'......right?

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

So far, I see most everyone using one or another sense as laid out in the OED, which defines words based on usage in practice. The wide variety of uses likely does make this term less that useful for some, but it is clear that it has both broader and narrower senses. For example, statisticians have given the vague term a standardized technical definition (meaning #10 under adjective) that when used with some measurement, can give a more precise distinction between normal and "abnormal." but the common usage is based on less precise generalizations. It is clear that the OED editors consider the normative, prescriptive definition (#2 under adjective) to be obsolete--although I've certainly known some people who use it to suggest that normal is good and outside normal is bad.

Oxford English Dictionary (without the pages of usage examples)
Normal, adj. and n.
A. adj.
I. General uses.
1. a. Constituting or conforming to a type or standard; regular, usual, typical; ordinary, conventional. (The usual sense.)In early use spec.: according to rule.

b. Of a person: physically and mentally sound; free from any disorder; healthy.
†2. Having the function of prescribing a course of action or way of living; prescriptive. Obs.
3. Of, relating to, or intended for the training of teachers, esp. in Continental Europe and N. America. Chiefly in normal school. Now hist.In N. America, normal schools were for training primary school teachers. In Continental Europe, different normal schools also trained teachers at secondary and tertiary levels.
4. Heterosexual. Cf. sense B. 6.

II. Technical uses.
5. a. Right-angled, rectangular. rare.Blount Glossogr. (1656) gives ‘Normal, right by rule, made by the square or Rule’. This was placed by N.E.D. at sense A. 1a, but it seems more likely to belong either here or at sense A. 5b.
6. Chem. a. Of a solution: having one gram-equivalent of solute or solvated ion per litre of solution. Of a concentration: expressed in terms of these quantities. Symbol N. Cf. molar adj.4 2.
b. Of a salt: containing no acidic hydrogen.
c. Containing an unbranched chain of carbon atoms in an alkane molecule or alkyl radical; composed of such molecules. Symbol N. 7. Physics. Of, relating to, or designating a mode of vibration in which every particle executes simple harmonic motion at the same frequency and in phase (or 180 degrees out of phase). 8. Geol. Designating a fault or faulting in which the relative downward movement occurred in the strata situated on the upper side of the fault plane. Cf. reverse fault n. at reverse adj. and adv. Special uses 2. 9. Biol. and Med. Of a saline solution: containing that amount of sodium chloride and (in later use) other salts that renders it isotonic with blood and living tissue. Cf. physiological adj. 2b. 10. Statistics. = Gaussian adj. b. 11. Math. Of a subgroup: having the property that for any elements h in the subgroup and g in the group, the product ghg−1 is in the subgroup. 12. Math. Of a mathematical expression, function, etc.: that has been normalized (normalize v. 2a). 13. Physics. a. Relating to or characteristic of a superconducting substance that is not in the superconducting state. Freq. in normal state.
b. Designating a component of a superfluid that is regarded as not having the properties of a superfluid and as coexisting at the atomic level with a component that does have them, in a proportion that decreases with decreasing temperature.
14. Math. Of a number: having a decimal expansion in which all ten digits, and all sequences of digits of the same length, occur with equal frequency.
B. n.1. A perpendicular line; a straight line that is at right angles to another line, a tangent to a curve, or a tangent plane to curved surface. 2. Meteorol. An average, a mean. Now rare. 3. A normal variety of something; esp. a sound, healthy, or unimpaired person. 4. a. The usual or typical state, condition, or value.†b. A normal temperature. Obs. rare. 5. A normal school. Cf. sense A. 3). Now hist. 6. A heterosexual person. Cf. sense A. 4.Special uses normal-faulted adj. Geol. characterized by normal faulting (cf. sense A. 8). normal forest n. a collection of trees at various stages of development, organized to provide a regular yield of timber. normal form n. Philos. a standard structure or format in which all propositions in a (usually symbolic) language can be expressed, and to which other forms can be reduced. normal science n. science that is considered standard or normative; science that works within the prevailing paradigms of its time and uses generally accepted methods. normal state n. Physics (a) = ground state n. at ground n. Compounds 2a; (b) see sense A. 13a.

 

[psychoslice]

In other words, as long as you believe in your concept of normal, whatever that is, that's all that counts . . . in your world.. . . . . . . . . . Understood.


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Well it seems that you have made your mind up, and that is what counts in your world.

 

[jojom]

Well it seems that you have made your mind up, and that is what counts in your world.

Absolutely, my world being one in which "normal" is, among other things (see post 23), a concept used to describe a statistical average. That it doesn't in your world is pretty screwy, but I can't say I'm surprised.


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[Thief]

I am above average in many ways......
I am normal.

I say.....we humans should be more than we are.
and the ones that strive to be more tomorrow....ARE normal.

 

[psychoslice]

Absolutely, my world being one in which "normal" is, among other things (see post 23), a concept used to describe a statistical average. That it doesn't in your world is pretty screwy, but I can't say I'm surprised.


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Why aren't you surprised, have you got the guts to tell me ?.

 

[psychoslice]

Just look around, just observe people, and you will be surprised seeing the utterly insane state which is known as normal. Osho

 

[1137]

Just look around, just observe people, and you will be surprised seeing the utterly insane state which is known as normal. Osho

You have no idea which way is up, do you.

 

[Paranoid Android]

You have no idea which way is up, do you.

Yes. He may not. But here is the point..YOU DON'T EITHER. Fact is, no human being on Earth does either. You see in black and white.

 

[psychoslice]

You have no idea which way is up, do you.

There is no such thing as up or down. except what we believe it to be..................anyway what's up your fanny, are you miserable to everyone here ?.

 

[Paranoid Android]

There is no such thing as up or down. except what we believe it to be..................anyway what's up your fanny, are you miserable to everyone here ?.

My guess would be yes.. His demand that the universe kowtow to him and acknowledge his Godhood will sadly fail.

 

[1137]

My guess would be yes.. His demand that the universe kowtow to him and acknowledge his Godhood will sadly fail.

Wow. I... wow. What I don't understand is the definition of normal changes really little. I get when people reject science when it comes to something like evolution, but to fear science to such an extent that you can't even accept a definition of a word...

 

[psychoslice]

My guess would be yes.. His demand that the universe kowtow to him and acknowledge his Godhood will sadly fail.

Why bring god into this discussion, he only ruins it, like he does with everything else in his name.

 

[jojom]

Why aren't you surprised, have you got the guts to tell me ?.

"Have you got the guts to tell me?" "Have you got the guts to tell me?" Good grief Alice, we must have been teleported back to our grade-school playground. B-b-but let me retort: So's your old man! and, You still throw like a girl.


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[psychoslice]

"Have you got the guts to tell me?" "Have you got the guts to tell me?" Good grief Alice, we must have been teleported back to our grade-school playground. B-b-but let me retort: So's your old man! and, You still throw like a girl.


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You have no idea of the conversation, or what he meant in the conversation have you ?, your just ignorant, so please keep your childish crap yo yourself.

 

[psychoslice]

If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”
― Maya Angelou

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

Absolutely, my world being one in which "normal" is, among other things (see post 23), a concept used to describe a statistical average.

The only instance of "average" I see in post 23 is "Meteorol. An average, a mean. Now rare", and as meteorology isn't statistics, how does support the idea that normal is a statistical average?

That it doesn't in your world is pretty screwy, but I can't say I'm surprised.

The screwy part is that it doesn't refer to a statistical average in statistics either.

 

[jojom]

You have no idea of the conversation, or what he meant in the conversation have you ?

I can see where grasping it may seem difficult to you, but, actually, I found it quite easy to follow.

your just ignorant,

Can't deny that there's a whole lot of stuff I don't know. How about you; are you implying you know everything, or is this just another na-na, na-na remark you use in school? In any case, what you may or may not think of my knowledge is of no interest to me.

so please keep your childish crap yo yourself.

Ah, spoken like a true autocrat desperately trying to save face. Hugs and kisses for your effort.


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[psychoslice]

I can see where grasping it may seem difficult to you, but, actually, I found it quite easy to follow.

Can't deny that there's a whole lot of stuff I don't know. How about you; are you implying you know everything, or is this just another na-na, na-na remark you use in school? In any case, what you may or may not think of my knowledge is of no interest to me.


Ah, spoken like a true autocrat desperately trying to save face. Hugs and kisses for your effort.


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Your pretty good at stirring, but na, doesn't work with me, I can see through your words, you just someone with a mental disorder just like me, yea yea.