redefining weirdness

So, I saw one of those fake old-timey postcard things on my Facebook newsfeed today, and it said, "I admit my level of weirdness is above the national average, but I'm comfortable with that."

I felt compelled to comment: "Statistically speaking, if as many people who claim to be weird actually ARE weird, I think that either most people do not understand what that word means, or we need to redefine it. (I'd say the first, though—saying you're "weird" has become like saying you're "random" or calling yourself a nerd. It has lost all meaning.)"

Basically, while I think the case is the former, I'm willing to compromise, and if that means taking the word "weird" and changing the definition, so be it. Linguistic drift and all that.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

I think we are reaching a point where everyone (in general) is encouraging tolerance and embracing of odd habits.

I'm not weird, I am a Beautiful Unique Snowflake! You have to accept me because weird is the new cool!

Even as a mental health professional I cannot buy that. Sorry. Some "weird" habits are often excuses to justify being a jerk.

"Oh wait. She doesn't have a... Forget what I said, don't catch the preggo. Just wear her hat." - Question Marc

I just feel like everyone seems to think they're weird because they have a few quirks...just like everyone else.

I don't think I've really seen people claiming that they're weird just as an excuse to be a jerk, or maybe I don't quite understand what you mean...can you give me an example?

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

I think I agree with you, Odd. I think there are quite a lot of people embracing the idea that they are 'weird' or 'crazy' or 'random' or 'nerdy'. People want to be quirky.

I admit, I kind of had that attitude in highschool myself.

Be not afraid...

You can see it on this website.

People who describe themselves with tropes like Lazy Genius or Manic Pixie Awesome person. Or those who claim to have a mental or emotional disability.I have degrees on my wall telling me I can properly identify certain conditions. I can look at a troper's history and point out certain things to say: you are not autistic. You are an asshole. You are not OCD, you just want everything done your way.

You can also find the people who say that no one understands their creativity or no one wants to date them or be their friend because of how they dress or because they like a certain show. Other people look a that and say it's not these things, it's because you're a jerk. Even if you changed your clothes or watched a different show, your attitude makes you unbearable.

EDIT: I should add that most people don't do this on purpose. They genuinely believe it is their "quirks" that make them uncomfortable to be around.

edited 15th Mar '13 12:00:06 AM by Polarstern

"Oh wait. She doesn't have a... Forget what I said, don't catch the preggo. Just wear her hat." - Question Marc

I would say that, ultimately, most people are indeed weird: their behaviour differs radically from that of a hypothetical "average" person. This follows from the fact that the behavioural characteristics of people humans present a huge variance.

I agree that nowadays, especially among geeks, "weirdness" is somehow thought to be a title of merit for some reason; but still, treating diversity as inherently meritorious strikes me as healthier, overall, than treating conformity to the average as such.

I entirely agree with Polarstern on the "Lazy Genius" thing, however.

edited 15th Mar '13 12:33:09 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

hashtagsarestupid

That's the thing about snowflakes. While each is, indeed, unique, their underlying properties are nonetheless identical and, as individual entities, they are transient and of no particular interest or value.

'Unique' is not necessarily 'weird' or 'special' or even 'noteworthy'.

That's not surreal. That's fairly standard behaviour in the US these days.

edited 15th Mar '13 12:55:08 AM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

@Polar: I agree entirely with what you said there (though obviously you know what you're talking about better than I would).

On a side note, it really is interesting to look on random tropers' pages and see how many of them describe themselves with such tropes (ESPECIALLY Brilliant, but Lazy and Deadpan Snarker). Most of the time, I feel like those people are the kind that really haven't matured yet, nor am I sure if they really will some of the time. But more so, I think this site's culture tends to promote the idea that the more of an outsider you portray yourself as, bizarrely, the more accepted people will think they'll be. It's pretty contradictory and doesn't make much sense, but hey. Also, it's 4:25 in the AM and I should be sleeping instead of babbling like this, so that adds another potential layer of nonsense to what I'm saying.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

You make perfect sense 0dd.

Being self aware and building a good self image is vital for health. I don't want people thinking being a Brony (to pick just a random hipster culture mark) is somehow a bad thing, but it's what someone does with it.

People often use this new acceptance of their hobbies or intrests with delight because it used to be that these intrests made them the object of ridicule or teasing. So when they find an enviroment that encourages them to express themselves, they normally go a little crazy letting loose.

It's not healthy for anyone to define their identity by singular qualities, even if those qualities are positive. Like me: I am late 20s, psychologist, homosexual, mother, etc. While I like these aspects about me, I try to balance these qualities. Not everyone can do that or wants to do that. it's okay to be a student, anime fan, crochet artist, short order cook. But you can't let one aspect unbalance or govern everything else.

I would be a really shitty mother and partner if I was constantly in psychologist mode. Likewise my clients can't be helped if I only see myself as a homosexual and not a good doctor in conjunction with that.

"Oh wait. She doesn't have a... Forget what I said, don't catch the preggo. Just wear her hat." - Question Marc

The problem with some people, particularly those who live mostly those on the interwebs, is that they get so sucked in to shit like 'fandoms' or 'online communities' or whatever that eventually there isn't anything else to them, because they never bothered to develop any other traits, content to wallow in the big internet circle-jerk around whatever pretend thing they're currently fixated on.

Of course, these fads only ever last a few years before fading away, but those few years are enough to royally fuck up a large number of teenagers who should have used that time to grow into functioning adults but instead find themselves left limping along with half a personality, years behind their peers.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

You summed up my thoughts well my good man.

EDIT: I guess I shouldn't complain too much. That is the demographic that normally pays people like me a lot. Not my expertise though, so no bonus for the Polar.

edited 15th Mar '13 2:08:18 AM by Polarstern

"Oh wait. She doesn't have a... Forget what I said, don't catch the preggo. Just wear her hat." - Question Marc

I'm a veritable God of Summation.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

I think stuff like this, you need to take with a grain of salt most of the time anyway.

I have both on my page as a joke, for example.

I figured the whole 'describe yourself through tropes' deal was a joke in the first place. It's summarising a person down to cookie cutter pieces of a person.

If that's meant to be taken seriously...

YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDY

Well, that's another problem; some folk do think you can genuinely describe real people that way and try to fit themselves into those little boxes.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Ah, you've just got to love that inability to separate reality from fantasy.

Actually, no. You've got to hate it with a passion.

edited 15th Mar '13 2:28:22 AM by TopographicOcean

YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDY

Kill It with Fire, perhaps?

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Perhaps.

Assuming someone here has something with which to werf some flammen.

Otherwise, Nuke Them From Orbit.

YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDY

It's the only way to be sure.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

I am extremely confused as to why Brilliant, but Lazy might be even thought to be an admirable or desirable trait, anyway.

A hypothetical Brilliant, but Lazy person would be no different from someone who has an exceptionally powerful racecar but never wins any race because they are a crappy pilot.

Who would ever brag about that? Shouldn't one rather brag about having achieved <whatever they have achieved> despite having average, or below-average, natural talents?

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Stupid But Determined?

Laziness is a massive character flaw, so it's kind of like saying 'I have good aspects, but my overall personality is defined by the fact that I'm an arsehole'.

edited 15th Mar '13 3:12:23 AM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

-would dispute the above fact, but cannot be bothered to-

YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDY

I guess it's more of a "I could totally have aced all those tests and done all this brilliant stuff. I just didn't want to" sort of thing.

Be not afraid...

It disgusts me how acts I once engaged in, which caused me strife from other people, is now glorified and engaged in with little to no action. And though it was prevalent before, social media and the popularity of the internet have spread the "I have a disability, wikipedia says so" thing really far.

I should end it here before this post ends up degenerating into off-topic babbling.

Come sail your ships around me, and burn your bridges down.

That makes sense. But still, if someone does not care about something to begin with, what's the point of claiming that they could have succeeded in it? As far as I can see, people do not usually go "I could have become the greatest distance runner of all time, but I was never interested in distance running".

About the "weird" thing, however, I am convinced that people are generally weird and that this is to be celebrated and encouraged further. Diversity and creativity enhance the human species, after all.

We need people obsessed with seventeeth-century pottery, or with atonal music, or with tulip gardening, or with whatever strikes their fancy. And people who are passionate about hot sauces or competitive kite flying or vintage pinball machines. Such people make the world a cooler place to live in.

The problem is that a lot of people are convinced that they are unique and interesting because they like manga and science fiction. This self-satisfaction, I think, gets in the way of them cultivating what makes them really unique and interesting; and this is a net loss for all of us.

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.