A normality test
photo b: flyingwombat
As I wrote in an older article, laughing is good. Of course, that is if you don’t laugh all day long - some might say.
If one laughs too much, one is considered abnormal. But to really understand what abnormal is, we have to understand its root, normal. Here are some definitions for normal:
- conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm;
- in accordance with scientific laws
- being approximately average or within certain limits in e.g. intelligence and development;
- convention: something regarded as a normative example;
As you see, the abnormality of laughing too much has nothing to do with the ideas associated with abnormality; laughing too much is simply different from what most other people are doing.
Now, do you consider yourself to be normal or abnormal?
There’s a poll below, vote your answer now (before reading any further).
Loading ...The normality test
While stumbling around the web, I discovered a quick and fun self-test for normality. The test has been designed by experts and its goal is to end the “segregation” of considering people who are mentally or emotionally different as being somehow fundamentally, to the core, different from the so-called “normal.” The test is below.
Make an animal noise. Now. At your computer screen or wherever you are. Make any animal noise. Meow of a cat. Moo of a cow. Anything. Louder the better.
Evaluate yourself. Here is how:
Did you make an animal noise of any kind? You show no sign of normality. Congratulations!!
Did you did *not* make an animal noise of any kind? You show no sign of normality. Congratulations!!
Spread the word; encourage others to take this simple normality self-test!
Some other thoughts
The trouble with normal is that it puts people in a box, and in that box we start losing our uniqueness. And we’re doing it to us, we’re doing it to the world; we’re trying to fit into a space that is unnatural for us. More than that, normal is a very dangerous term. It implies abnormal and that implies peoples judgments.
Normal and natural are very different things which we often get confused.
It is normal to have a job; but it is not natural. It is normal to eat processed foods; but it is not natural. It *is* normal for countries to invade other countries; but again, it is not natural.
Don’t look for normality, look for naturalness. Be natural.
To end this article with a relevant joke, do you know what is the difference between a psychotic and a mystic? The mystic knows who *not* to talk to. 
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