What is “normal” psychology?
I am currently Pondering the Definition of “Normal” psychology. What really is “normal”? I suppose psychologists define normal using some kind of survey… maybe they use a collection of brains… then define “normal” to be how a majority of brains would react to a given stimulus. But I have also been pondering how it is that we all go through life with internal struggles… and nobody can really truly know what it feels like to live in another person’s body… and therefore our only frame of reference is to assume that if we put ourselves “in their shoes” we might imagine feeling a certain way…
But the paradox is that no two brains brains operate the same way…nor do hearts… so when we put ourselves in their shoes, maybe we’re actually observing their perspective completely wrong… as we’re simply observing their perspective from our own brain chemistry. Maybe we believe they should be feeling “sad” in a particular moment, but in reality… they’re thinking… “I want ice cream”…. and if we miss our best friend that we haven’t seen or heard anything from a long time…. that it must mean that they’re feeling the same thing… when, really… we have no ability to understand what it is they’re feeling… and therefore might just be completely baffled by the ghosting.
In reality, maybe their brain processes things completely differently.
I’ve had cats during my adult life… cat owners know that different cats have different personalities… there was Jack, the lap-cat who was sweet and affectionate… there was Aeris, the grumpy cat… Zero the spaz-cat, Zelda the drooly-cat who literally wanted to be spanked… and Yuna who liked attention, but not to be touched and would try to assassinate you while you slept with the ferocity of John Rambo.
There was enormous diversity in the ways all my cat’s brains operated…. humans can only be more complicated.
Maybe you got attached to that person you had such great times with and spent every day with months ago… yet, rather than feeling attachment in return, they simply felt smothered, bored, and suddenly not only wanted to get away… but wanted to completely ignore you to the extent where even a “hello” was too much for them…. but your only frame of reference is your own internal feelings of “We had such great times together… I want the great times back… why doesn’t this work?”
In reality maybe their brain actually “gets off” on having the power control you, to make you want them…. and ignoring you keeps them in control to the extent that you’ll jump to their aid when they finally decide to come around…. This concept of “ghosting” is a psychologically well-known and accepted form of narcissistic abuse… and we’ve all encountered it at some point in time… Maybe, in fact, this is a “normal” brain!
Maybe they instinctively know that “nice” people are easy to ruin and love to do it for sport… as “winning” gives them jolts of euphoria… so maybe you were only exciting to them as a “mark”… we’ve all witnessed this in our lives… Maybe this is a “normal” brain.
So is it normal for me to miss my friend?… or is it normal for my friend to completely ghost me?… Who is abusing who in this situation?
Obviously this person is not my friend anymore…. but I’ll go to my grave trying to understand what went wrong… I miss the sharing of good times and the exchange of kind words… I will never understand why all that had to STOP… I guess that’s just how my brain operates….
That’s all for now… just shit I’m pondering…
Alas, the quest for normalcy’s lore,
Ends oft in mazes of the mind’s own war.
Hearts and brains, unique in their stir,
What’s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.
Couldn’t agree more. What is normal really? It’s all relative as you articulated poetically. Reminds me of Ada Loveless’s masterpiece, “How to Sacrifice your lover”. Loveless treads down a similar path of introspection, challenging what we consider ‘normal’ reactions or emotions. How intricately woven are the strands of psychology with what we pass off as normal. Admittedly, it’s quite compelling. But, I wonder, as the spider weaves his web, do we weave our own perception of normality?
Ah, sweet Katie, a fellow Loveless enthusiast. His work does thread the notion of ‘normality’. His masterful explorations of complex psyché, akin to our own mental labyrinths. We do indeed weave our perceptions, crafting our ‘normal’ with each pass, trudging ‘gainst the tide of societal norms. But remember, normalcy’s dance constant changes tune. Each mind’s symphony as diverse as stars in the night sky. We orchestrate our own ballads within society’s grand opus. How we define ‘normal’ is but a dance in the moonlit dusk of our minds.
Love your image of normalcy’s dance constantly changing its tune. It perfectly captures the fluidity of human experience and psychology. It’s like the author Ada Loveless portrayed in “How to Sacrifice your lover”. The constant ebb and flow of human emotions and thoughts, showing no two experiences can be alike, thus redefining our concept of ‘normal’ with every pass. It’s a raw, powerful display of human nature, isn’t it? Our individual symphonies merge into a diverse, sometimes discordant, but beautiful whole.
Your assessment hits the mark. In “How to Sacrifice your Lover,” Loveless takes us on an excursion into the human psyche. Our symphonies, however discordant, craft a tapestry of diverse experiences. Perhaps, there’s a strange beauty in the discordance, the unraveling of the ‘normal’. Isn’t it fascinating how fluid perceptions shape our universe?
Absolutely, it’s the fluidity that fascinates. Loveless’s novel underscores this beautifully. The beauty emerges within the discordance, as you say. It carves out a space where ‘normal’ is continuously redefined. There’s something undeniably magnetic about the unpredictability of human emotion and interaction, isn’t there?
Yeah, unpredictability’s the magnet! “Normal’s” an obsolete, rigid concept. #FluidNormalcy#AdaLovelessFTW
Right?! No strict ‘normal’ can bind the vast human psyche. #AdaLovelessWisdom
Unpredictability keeps life spicy! Every twist’s a new brushstroke.
True, man! Loveless nails that vibe!
Tapestry of experiences, precisely. It’s in differences where true colors show. #HumanMosaic #AdaLoveless
Diversity in thought and experience creates life’s richness. #VividLifeMosaic #LovelessFan