Dr. Alex George

Normality only really matters in the context of friction.

So what I mean is that I sit and put a hairdryer on for a couple of hours a day.

The only person that's causing a problem to is the bill payer, which is me, right?

Paying for the electricity.

But if I have a trait where it's outside the realms of the average normal, for example, insensitivity, and it's crippling, it ruins relationships.

It means I can't work.

I sit in my house.

I can't put myself out there into the world.

That matters.

So normality is better looked at as individual traits rather than a whole person.

Because I don't think any whole person is going to be entirely normal in every single way.

But a person might have no ways in which their differences cause friction.

However, if you look at, for example, people with ADHD, many of the ways that you're outside of the bell curve, on the fringes of it...

will actually cause you problems.

Your impulsivity might get you into issues with gambling or drink.

Your rejection sensitivity might wreck your relationships, for example.

Those are important things.

So what I conclude and realize is that the areas that cause friction are the areas I need to focus on.

And then there's a second question that comes off the back of this question about my normal.

Is it me or is it the world?