Normal Behaviour.....

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
33,676
1,665
113
Northern Ontario,
I'm not one to philosophise, but I do like asking questions and make my own mind on the answers I get.....


We often hear in life and on this forum, that something must be normal, well, just because some animals do it, and since we are animals it must be OK.
And certain behaviour that was illegal a hundred years ago, is legal to-day.
But when you predict that a certain behavior that is frowned upon today may be legal in the future the naysayers abound.
I say why not?
Why do certain animal instincts have to be repressed and others not.
One would say that society makes the rules......
So which rule is right and which is wrong, since society and it's morals are always changing????????
 

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
29,151
3
36
London, Ontario
Normal has to be the most misapplied and over used word in the English language. And you're right, society and morals are always changing. Some might used the word evolving, others wouldn't, but changing will suffice.

Personally when it comes to the behaviour that's deemed 'acceptable' and 'not acceptable' I look at 1) does it affect anyone other than the single individual involved and 2) if it does, than does the second (or third or fourth) individual affected have the capacity to freely give consent over the behaviour. That's not going to be an absolutely perfect fit in every scenario, but I think it's as close as we're ever going to get. So that, for me, is sort of the litmus test.
 

Sal

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 29, 2007
17,135
33
48
I'm not one to philosophise, but I do like asking questions and make my own mind on the answers I get.....


We often hear in life and on this forum, that something must be normal, well, just because some animals do it, and since we are animals it must be OK.
And certain behaviour that was illegal a hundred years ago, is legal to-day.
But when you predict that a certain behavior that is frowned upon today may be legal in the future the naysayers abound.
I say why not?
Why do certain animal instincts have to be repressed and others not.
One would say that society makes the rules......
So which rule is right and which is wrong, since society and it's morals are always changing????????
my code is basically "do no harm" and then do as you wish

there need to be laws to protect those who are vulnerable from those who would prey upon them and thus there must be consequences for breaking those laws

animal instinct is at a base level...we have evolved beyond that in most instances, for those who have not, they must be forced so that others remain safe

laws do change according to societies need and knowledge base and understanding
 

Count_Lothian

Time Out
Apr 6, 2014
793
0
16
I'm not one to philosophise, but I do like asking questions and make my own mind on the answers I get.....


We often hear in life and on this forum, that something must be normal, well, just because some animals do it, and since we are animals it must be OK.
And certain behaviour that was illegal a hundred years ago, is legal to-day.
But when you predict that a certain behavior that is frowned upon today may be legal in the future the naysayers abound.
I say why not?
Why do certain animal instincts have to be repressed and others not.
One would say that society makes the rules......
So which rule is right and which is wrong, since society and it's morals are always changing????????

It's interesting to note that a lot of the laws we have today take into account left over animal behaivour and instincts in humans.

A lot of judgements in sex cases in the past were just deemed a man's inability to control his natural urges. Lesser fines and time served due to this sort of thinking.

There is and always has been a paradigm that we must evolve out of our inner animal instincts and become more human.

The fact that we understand we come from animals and have those instincts still is cause for civilizing ourselves.
 

Ludlow

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 7, 2014
13,588
0
36
wherever i sit down my ars
I'm not one to philosophise, but I do like asking questions and make my own mind on the answers I get.....


We often hear in life and on this forum, that something must be normal, well, just because some animals do it, and since we are animals it must be OK.
And certain behaviour that was illegal a hundred years ago, is legal to-day.
But when you predict that a certain behavior that is frowned upon today may be legal in the future the naysayers abound.
I say why not?
Why do certain animal instincts have to be repressed and others not.
One would say that society makes the rules......
So which rule is right and which is wrong, since society and it's morals are always changing????????
I think the word "normal" has to be a subjective word. If you live amongst a community of thieves then stealing would be normal for you and if you did not steal things , that would be abnormal for you considering the status quo of your community. I think "natural" would be a better word and less subjective maybe. But, I guess that could be a subjective word as well, considering everyone's opinion of what should be considered natural varies . Personally I don't think much of anything is natural these days but that is my perspective which is shaped by my circumstance and experiences. Okay. there's a load of comments by me that are neither here nor there but, it was something to do.
 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
4,336
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Vancouver Island
Well monkeys fling their actual **** around, we only fling verbal **** around. I'd say it's an evolutionary step forward.



Actually I think we were Homo habilis, but probably close enough. ;)

Never have a horse turd fight when you were a kid?
 

QuebecCanadian

Electoral Member
Apr 13, 2014
502
0
16
Do you really mean normal....or natural? I think some basic instincts we are born with. And some develop depending on our experiences. Throw a baseball at someone and one might instinctively reach out to catch it and another instinctively might duck. It's a no-thought reaction but it's not standard.

Some animal instincts have to be repressed because they can be harmful to others...and because we are not animals.

Normal on the other hand is completely subjective...and personal.

Just because something was illegal at one time doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong...just that some people got together and decided it was (church, state...). For that to change, other people get together and decide otherwise. That's evolution and as times change so do peoples' perspectives.

If whatever it is, doesn't hurt anyone or take advantage of anyone or their weaknesses then we can all collectively decided whether it becomes normal or acceptable.

We all know that people who make laws don't always do that with best interest in mind.
 

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
29,151
3
36
London, Ontario
Normal is too subjective of a term. What's normal to me is going to be completely odd to someone else. We're far too individualistic to have one clear definition of normal.

I always tend to look at us as all being different and sometimes we come across others that are the 'same kind of different' as ourselves.
 

Ludlow

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 7, 2014
13,588
0
36
wherever i sit down my ars
I'm not one to philosophise, but I do like asking questions and make my own mind on the answers I get.....


We often hear in life and on this forum, that something must be normal, well, just because some animals do it, and since we are animals it must be OK.
And certain behaviour that was illegal a hundred years ago, is legal to-day.
But when you predict that a certain behavior that is frowned upon today may be legal in the future the naysayers abound.
I say why not?
Why do certain animal instincts have to be repressed and others not.
One would say that society makes the rules......
So which rule is right and which is wrong, since society and it's morals are always changing????????
aint nothing wrong with a little philosophisin now and then.
 

Twila

Nanah Potato
Mar 26, 2003
14,698
73
48
Is that a habit or is he hungry? It's rather gross. You could get atheletes mouth and warts.
 

Ludlow

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 7, 2014
13,588
0
36
wherever i sit down my ars
if you like fried okra you're normal. If you do not like fried okra you're abnormal and need to be labeled as such. clearly anyone who fits the latter description should be reprimanded and flogged.