It is undeniable how judgment develops in groups. It's so easy to see how much we are judged by society's expectations. As long as you stay in a group that approves of your beliefs, you are never questioned, challenged or alienated... Abnormality might be simply something different from the common experience seen as acceptable to the group standards to which we are held.
The Internet is full of places where being a total weirdo is the norm! That's why the Internet lends itself to all sorts of "groups" for just about every stripe conceived... weirdos can find each other and define their own norms, validating their own views! In one way, it is intellectual freedom. In another, it's just another "cage" where one is "normal"!
I think that conformity is far too valued, and that it kills innovation and creativity. While we stand on a certain point along a linear measurement of ideal behavior on one side, and behavior that is to be despised on the other. We can see a bit in either direction that is considered acceptable relative to ourselves. But it depends on what "point" we're making. If we put ourselves on a point on a line, we literally take a stand" and have our own relative understanding of acceptable behaviors for ourselves, but it doesn't mean it's a valid way to determine ultimately ideal behavior for everyone in every circumstance. And everyone participating in life stands somewhere on the line.... We may think Tattoos are awful , and choose to think everyone who has one is a conforming idiot. Or, we may cover ourselves with them and hang out only with others who think like we do.... The decision to get one little tattoo, or the choice to cover ourselves in them is our own acceptable "range" on that line.
So, we're on a "line", and even for our OWN standards, we have "standard deviations", or just a little "weirdness". Outside these norms are behaviors that we deem abnormal and unacceptable (Brings to mind the statement "This behavior crosses the line".) So when we consider why a behavior crosses the line, we ask ourselves what point on the line we place others, and ourselves? And if it's our OWN sensibility that is injured, or if it's crossing some kind of line that is universally "the place to be"... the behavior that is acceptable no matter who you ask, no matter where or when... Can we really believe, "to each his own"? Because usually we think in terms of subscribing to some version of right and wrong that is left up to some pre-determined definitions. If we place ourselves ONLY on our own line, then we admit responsibility for everything we choose... I think we do choose... but we don't have to give up judging the actions of everyone else, we just can't know our own position from all angles ever again... and we must admit we don't know anything but what we regard for ourselves... our own spot on that line where we plot ourselves and nothing else in relation to it but our own reality.
I can't stick to any sort of universal philosophy based upon the pre-defined lines of others... a modal personality, or "national character", a dogma of religion... or some other ideal... that defines the choice, and then places acceptability between two standard deviations.... Lots of things are "out there" that I don't even begin to consider... another "line of thinking" on which I have never had to choose my position.
By devaluing what's beyond our own personal boundaries of acceptable actions, we close doors for reasons that we may not be able to defend effectively, simply because we walk the "straight and narrow" of own line of thinking, and never see the line that others walk.
Option #1 Very strict norm.
_________________[<..Acceptable Behavior..>]________________
Option #2 Norm leans one way.
__[<...........................Acceptable Behavior..>] _________________
Option #3 Norm leans the other way.
__________________<[..Acceptable Behavior......................>]__
Option #4 Freedom, except for extremes.
__[<..........................Acceptable Behavior.......................>]__
In REALITY: True Freedom, and responsibility of Free-will
[____________________________________________________________]
I plot my own version of acceptablity, thanks. (For options, see above... *wink* )
Don't we all create our own right and wrong based on the examples we're shown, taught etc..? Is there not simply a way to understand what's "acceptable" about those behaviors, and make them our own, and live in own "context", and act on our own motives which end up being mostly what's accepted, especially "in a free country?" Isn't everyone just a little "off" in some regard, at least sometimes?
I'm so glad I live in a country where people can still push the limits and learn and grow. Without some acceptance and freedom to push the limits and making mistakes, we'd also never be able to know what is right, we could just become sheep.
Conformity can be awful. Teenagers seem tortured these days. I watched my daughter go through all kinds of hell trying to navigate "normal" all through high school... I kept telling her it's WAY overrated!!! She survived. (whew!)
I see a problem in terms of what degree can we trust ourselves to live our own version of right and wrong, and truly find our way... I wonder how much society's "norms" might be "closing in" on us, fostering of a lack of trust in ourselves and each other to "behave" in acceptable ways, and even cherishing what we might not regard as being "close to" ourselves. Fear and distrust of what's different, and "groupthink" is disturbing because it can be used to take away freedom of choice. Some might give away that freedom for a promise of safety when the responsibility for having a choice starts to be regarded as a burden. People are afraid to "be themselves" if it's not safe to do so... If I'm not comfortable with the choices of those who are openly gay, I may want to opt out of that freedom. It's how people can be brainwashed into religious cults, lulled into dictatorships, or lend their support for such things as DADT.
