Nothing to See Here
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0Some animals just don’t make good house pets. I’m not talking about hell-hounds here, I’m talking about fish. They are sooo boring. At least the devil’s own hunting pack would bring some excitement into the mix. Hm, maybe excitement isn’t the right word…
Oh, right, corpses. That’s the word I’m looking for. My mistake.
The older I get the more I realize that “normal” is relative. Watch any show on the Travel Channel and you’ll see what I’m getting at. If you’re more perceptive than that, you can just watch and listen to the people around you and you’ll start to figure it out. What is and isn’t normal seems entirely defined by culture and upbringing. For instance, I am not interested in eating bull testicles. The people Anthony Bourdain hangs out with, on the other hand, often are. See what I mean?
Television is so educational.
Arguments about normalcy have been raging since before globalization was even a word and have only got more intense among social scientists as the earth has continued to remain in tact and un-irradiated. The problem with globalization is that culture is strong, it has years to develop and specialize a people to fit their environment and their needs. When cultures clash, what really happens is a battle over what can and cannot remain normal. While this is not a well defined process with leaders or philosophers debating the particular merits of a set of beliefs versus another, it is a process that happens over time when cultures meet, share experiences, or fight one another. The Roman Empire had an enormous impact on its subjects largely due to the success and spread of its culture, the effects of which can still be seen today.
So what does that all mean? Does it mean that what we think of as normal has no merit or that we are brainwashed by our societies? That’s a tough question. The most likely answer is that it’s a bit of both. We’re conditioned by our societies to experience things in certain ways (laws, media, politics). We’re entirely capable of fighting this by simply being aware of these conditions and resisting where necessary. It’s not a hopeless situation for those that desire free thought, however abstract that concept may be. As far as whether our view of normalcy is valid goes, I personally don’t subscribe to the notion of cultural relativism. In my eyes, and there are those that disagree on this point, logic and emotional well-being win the day on any argument with regard to customs and traditions. If your social norm is harmless or, somehow, beneficial, then I see no problem with it, but if what you view as normal is aggressive or harmful, then I believe there is an issue to be handled.
Really what it all boils down to is the difference in experiences among us. It’s important to note that while many of us are similar genetically or physically, our experiences differ vastly and those differences are responsible for making us who we are. That doesn’t mean we can’t find common ground, it’s just something to make you pause and think about what you’re saying and thinking about the people around you.
Because while you may think a dog shouldn’t be spewing flames from it’s fetid maw like some kind of nightmarish campfire, your friend may find that to be exactly the way things should be.
He may just be terrified that it sneezed.
FINAL NOTE: I will be at table W33 with William at SPX in Maryland this weekend! Stop by if you’re going to be there! I will have some shirts, buttons, and single comic prints on hand to sell and I would love to see some of you stop by and say hello!
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I like how he randomly has a gun.
On a side note: my dog sneezes all the time. Once he was laying down and gave himself a bloody nose from it.
Woo, I’ll get to see the artists behind the stuff which gives me my lulz this weekend!
That has been my thought process since I was 11 years old. Seriously I was riding my bike, and thinking you know what normality is relative. I was pretty deep kid.
*was a
Nice post. Just started following along about two weeks ago and I enjoy your work very much.
I’ve been living outside the comfort zone for quite a while now. I spent some time deployed to other countries, but that didn’t really count because I was still immersed in American Army culture. I’ve been living in Asia for almost 2 and a half years now, with no break, and it’s been a real eye opener to me in terms of what ‘normal’ is.
i think that there is no normal its all how people see things.
Really is some peoples points of view i’m weird but in others i’m normal.
See there is no normal or weird its just how others look at us.
*in
For example, it’s not normal for somebody’s zipper pull tag thing to be as long as the zipper it opens, but thanks to this comic it might become a new normal!
What are you talking about? I’ve been rockin’ giant zippers for years.
YES!
I’ve been waiting all morning to be able to see today’s comic!!
As always, very funny
Anthony Bourdain is the shit.
Well, strictly speaking, “normal” does indeed exist. It defines a largest percentage of whatever it is you’re measuring when compared to other things in that category. It’s normal for kids to go to school because the vast majority of them do so. It’s not normal to be home schooled because there is a far less percentage that do. I am a normal height because the majority of individuals are my height, or close to it.
So if you use normal synonymously to things like usual, standard, or regular, then yeah, of course normal exists.
But then you get into the philosophical aspects of relative normalcy which defines what is normal on an individual scale rather than a societal or global scale, and then yeah… In the end, you just have to define which scale you’re using to gauge what’s normal. “This is normal for Americans” or “This is normal for Christians” or “this is normal for Scott Maynard.” That’s the most important thing.
The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.
Fun Fact: We all remember how the late U.S. President, George W. Bush, had so much trouble enunciating words and, you know, understanding them. Well, another U.S. president was the same way–Warren G. Harding. In 1920, Harding used the term, “Normalcy” in a speech. Normalcy was not a word. It did NOT exist until Harding conjured it from the very air about him. And today, it has been fully incorporated into the modern lexicon.
…….
Okay, enough educational-stuff for the day. Love the comic, as always. Gotta say, the abrupt change in that last panel (and the facial expression) remind me a LOT of the antagonist reactions you see thugs make in Japanese Yakuza films/movies (particularly those that involve comedy to a degree). The JDrama, “My Boss My Hero,” leaps to mind. (Which everyone reading this comment REALLY ought to check out).
pretty tame for one hellhound i say
GO! HOUNDOOM!
I hear that bull testicles is an aphrodisiac~