mdyetmetaphor.com

Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal

mdyetmetaphor.com header image 2

The” Normal” Conspiracy

December 2nd, 2012 by Michael Dyet

“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” ~ Albert Camus, Albert Camus, 1913 – 1960), French Author, Journalist, and Philosopher

Hmmm, where is that mythical land of legend called normal?

In a recent posting, I went on a bit of a rant about people who use their unique skills and abilities for unproductive and sometimes destructive purposes. I held a grudge against a specific faction who had aimed their antisocial behaviour in my direction.

A reader took me to task on this subject by pointing out that people who display antisocial behaviour sometimes do so because they feel spurned by society. They don’t fit the popular conception of normal and are therefore relegated to the fringes of our culture.

This started me thinking about the slippery concept of normal and where the boundary line sits between it and the equally fuzzy abnormal.

At one end of the spectrum, we are all absolutely unique. Science tells us that each and every one of us has a distinctive DNA pattern (with the exception of identical twins) and that our fingerprints are entirely unique.

And so, from a purely scientific perspective, there is no such thing as normal. We are each a one-off that has never been seen before and will never be seen again when we are gone.

On the other hand, we all have things in common. Everyone in the world has one of eight different blood types. And thank God we do, as that allows us to donate blood or body organs to save another person’s life.

There are numerous behaviour profiling systems in existence which classify and assign us to a particular personality type. We are similar to other people in our category by virtue of how we think, react and behave. We generally get along better with other people in our category because we are more or less on the same wavelength.

However, look deeper into these profiling systems and you realize that none of the categories are an exact point on the psychology map. At best, each of them is a spectrum. Everyone in Category A falls somewhere along a line between broadly defined start and end points.

So where exactly does normal fall in the midst of all these differences and similarities and along the various (and never entirely agreed upon) spectrums? At best, normal is a range – a very, very broad one – which shape-shifts as cultural norms evolve over time.

I think we would all be better off if we banished the word normal, along with the value judgements we make based on it, from our vocabulary. Then perhaps there would no longer be fringes to our society and individuals banished to them.

Society becomes a conspiracy when we see it as a snapshot in time. We’re all far better off when we filter it through the lens of metaphor where it becomes a kaleidoscope of endless variations on a beautiful and timeless theme.

 ~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   · · · · · · No Comments