Alfred Adler - "The only normal people are the one's you don't know very well."
My opinion: One of the best examples of humor as it relates to normalcy is from the Mel Brook’s parody, Young Frankenstein. Gene Wilder plays the American grandson of the infamous monster-maker, Frankenstein. He returns to Germany to check out the castle he’s inherited. A physician himself, he quickly finds a genetic connection and passion to his grandfather’s work on reanimation and, in spite of his attempts to distance himself from his shameful familial legacy of monster-making, he sets out to bring back the dead.
But first, he needs a body; a (dead) body big enough to do the gruesome job. And, if one is going to bring life to the dead, a little advanced engineering is necessary. Igor, young Frankenstein’s trusted lab assistant, is sent to retrieve a superb specimen from the local brain depositary (apparently, it is a common feature of medieval hamlets).
Anyway, this happens:
And then, after Dr. Frankenstein is assaulted – vigorously - by his creation, this happens:
Abby Normal, Abnormal, Don’t use this brain!
Great stuff. But, it’s not this easy in real life. So, what is normal? I start with an off-the-cuff definition:
It’s what we know based on our experiences.
I know, I really went out on a limb on this one. What do others say about normal?
Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.
Walt Disney
The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?
John Lennon
You can't process me with a normal brain.
Charlie Sheen
No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I'm not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal.
Bill Cosby
Every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. His ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent.
Sigmund Freud
To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.
William James
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
Albert Camus
Bibliographical Credit :http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/normal.html#ixzz1jrDLPocL
Walt Disney
The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?
John Lennon
You can't process me with a normal brain.
Charlie Sheen
No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I'm not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal.
Bill Cosby
Every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. His ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent.
Sigmund Freud
To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.
William James
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
Albert Camus
Bibliographical Credit :http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/normal.html#ixzz1jrDLPocL
So, my spontaneous definition above isn’t quite as specific as these quotes illustrate. But, these pearls of wisdom don’t contradict it either.
It appears that there is a fair amount of energy expended in order to “be normal” or, at least, appear normal.
As a parent, I have taken my cues for “normal” from:
1. My own view as a child (my own folks, my friends’ experiences, ABC After School Specials, etc.)
2. What to Expect: When You’re Expecting, in the Toddler Years, When Your Child is Ready to Go All the Way (This one doesn’t exist, interestingly enough).
3. Steve Martin movies (1989-2005).
4. Other parents at the sandbox, preschools, grocery store, dance recitals
5. Parenting magazines
6. My classrooms
7. My own Petrie Dish at home with my own offspring
8. The internet
The last one is less about choosing specific sites for guidance and more about an aggregate of articles and curiosities from a wide range of sources which inform and guide my process as a parent and teacher. Consider this exchange with colleagues just yesterday.
I've edited names because I haven't asked for their permission to include them on this blog post. And, the fact that there are thousands 11 members of this blog, a little privacy is in order. Also, I have excluded the original email message from WordPress and their stance on the SOPA/PIPA legislation and subsequent web protests because it distracts from the flow of this post. See their website for details.
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> Subject: Fwd: [New post] Join Our Censorship Protest!
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> I take pride in being an independent and non-political when it comes to red/blue, modern day issue-of-the-moment politicking/pandering to the easy-to-dupe- public.
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> So, I ask my political scientist colleagues in earnest:
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> Whattaya know about this bill (see below)?
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> Is this a real issue or just liberal paranoia over fears of corporate money grubbing? Or is this conservative whining because, while folks are making money in a free market, it isn't morally regulated?
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> OK, I'll stop making fun of the problematic and predictable logjam that is our two-party system. But this seems like a big deal. I would think our kids would eat this up as it is a real issue wrapped in the Constitutional content they recently covered. Freedom of speech, the internet and an online protest. That's like a trilogy of awesomeness.
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> Thoughts?
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> Koncki
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> PS Even our founding fathers knew that you need at least 3 (branches of government) for a healthy system of checks and balances.
On 18 Jan, 2012, at 5:02 PM, wrote:
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> I full-heartedly agree!!
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> This would be a fascinating research for our current unit of study on Civil Rights. While right now we’re building background information on how rights are taken away and even suppressed institutionally (slavery and Jim Crow Laws in America), students will have an independent project where they get to select their topic as it relates to civil rights. I can see this issue being the civil rights of free access to internet versus government/corporate control and censorship.
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> Without free internet access, the Muslim Spring and Wall Street protests would have been denied; the voices of “The People” denied. It also demonstrates the civil rights of the individual versus the corporation (NO, I don’t believe, Mr. Romney, that a corporation is a person!”) Just as slavery was perpetuated by big business greed, so too is this effort. Free access to internet is the modern-day marker for measuring the freedom of a society. Look at those countries who already have restrictions, censorship, or blackouts (China, Vietnam, Cuba, and to a lesser extent, Singapore, all come to mind).
Subject: Re: [New post] Join Our Censorship Protest!
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> Geez , you couldn't help yourself could ya?
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> Still, I like the geopolitical nuggets as well as the ties to US History- well-played Chris.
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> I'd like to define the bill's language and intent before we serve it up to kids. Not looking to censor or water down but instead to take a little perspective on the issue first.
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> So, whattaya know about the bill folks? Wikipedia and Wordpress are taking a stance which seems like a good start to understanding it. I'd be curious as to what NYT's stance might be. Google, Apple and Microsoft? How about AOL and other media groups. Facebook?
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> I'm for a free Internet without restrictions. I pay for content on iTunes rather than bit torrent the content into my media libraries. I subscribe to local cable and enjoy a wide variety of online content. My, sometimes twisted, logic is the result of articles from sources that run the gamut from near and far as it relates to the mainstream and bizarre. It's important that we keep the "weird" available in order to consistently tweak what is "normal". The more diversity in our influences the better we can inform ourselves as to what normal human behavior really is.
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> This is just koncki thought if there is no threat to online content. I'm good with sharing this much with you all. However, if this is on the horizon we need to decide our position as individuals and then our role as educators and act accordingly.
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> Thoughts?
On 18 Jan, 2012, at 7:41 PM, wrote:
> It looks like Google will be protesting: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-
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> New York times and L.A. times have similarly spoken out against it: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/
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> And most importantly, here is what The Colbert Report is saying on the topic:
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I wish we were discussing this on John K's blog rather than in a
string of emails....so 90's.
Oh sorry his blog has been shut down by SOPA.
Seriously that's what we are looking at here.....
What point am I trying to make here while still connecting this to raising adolescents?
Our kids have the access to the same information as we do.
Whether we are talking about teachers or parents, they no longer have to wait for nuggets of our wisdom in order to find direction and perspective.
And, that's a good thing because...?
It’s because it makes me a better teacher and parent. I have to drop the ruse that I know all and, therefore, create dependency on my charges. My kids (students and, more importantly, my children) need acceptance and non-judgmental time with me, not a head-filling lecture. My role in supporting these adolescents can never assume that they aren’t hip to the ways of the world. Sure, web-blocking software is available and we can try and lead “normal” lives of virtue and not vice but, eventually the truth gets out. And, the truth is, we are all on the verge of hypocrisy, are anxious and, largely, groping in the dark when it comes to guiding our kids today. We are not helpless, however.
I’ve written about trust on this blog (see the 2011 archives at the right of this post). That was about trusting our kids. I’m going to invite you to begin trusting yourselves. One of the ways to do this is by "liberating yourself from mental slavery" as Bob Marley sang so beautifully.
The mental rent we pay to the god of “normalcy” is bankrupting our creativity and keeping us from personal growth. And, if that's happening, we are being remiss in our responsibilities as adults. If we aren't taking risks in order to grow, then what does that say to our kids?
The mental rent we pay to the god of “normalcy” is bankrupting our creativity and keeping us from personal growth. And, if that's happening, we are being remiss in our responsibilities as adults. If we aren't taking risks in order to grow, then what does that say to our kids?
Recently, I watched an online video on 21st Century Learning. Here’s a powerful excerpt from Tony Buzan, the creator of Mind Mapping.
I love this interview because Buzan says a couple of things that resonate and are relevant to this blog post's topic of normal.
He defines today as the Age of Intelligence (preceded by the age of Knowledge, Information, etc.). If we are in the age of intelligence, we cannot deny kids information or that kids possess as much information as adults do. Furthermore, we must stop managing information (content in the classrooms) and must manage people and processes toward connecting and creating, instead.
The second thing he says that gives me a rise in my Levis is about creativity being a “whole” brain process and not hemispherical. I am actively teaching courses on organization which use a process to create a vehicle for the creative process. Creativity without organization is chaos and organization without creativity is pointless. The root of the word, creativity, is create. In order to create there must be open thinking with templates and processes designed to gain traction. I also believe that reflection and feedback are vitally necessary in order to accelerate and guide the creative process.
What are we doing to nurture this in our homes and in our schools? This is normal. This is what the universe is telling us but we are too busy trying to “act” normal to see. We are losing our kids, generations of kids because we are engaging them with dead end conversations about HW and grades which are exercises in lazy, uninspired and fear-based hegemony.
I leave you with this as you choose or don’t choose to join me in the pursuit of normalcy:
“One can’t believe impossible things.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
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