Deviant

So, I was sitting in my Psychology 101 class this morning reading Postman's "Amusing Ourselves To Death," when the word deviant came up in class. The formal definition is "a person or thing that deviates or departs markedly from the accepted norm." A norm changes over time for example, back in 500 BCE if you heard God you were a prophet. During the medieval ages if you weren't a priest or pope and heard God, you were a witch and a heretic. Nowadays, if you hear God you are mistrusted by the Church and labeled as a mental patient.

In Huxley's "Brave New World," the norm for each person or group of people was made by the Ford or the World Controllers. In "Amusing Ourselves To Death," the first pages state that even important figures are disregarded because they are not attractive or normal according to our norm. So, who establishes norm if we are all subjected to follow it. We all live under the idea that if we are different under the norm we are heretics and are looked down upon in society, but what exactly is a good/bad choice if we decide what is good/bad from what others in different norms.

Where does our norm come from if it constantly changes and is no longer established from powerful figures? What controls or establishes our norm if everyone in society follows it? How can someone classify something normal if they were brought up with the standards of what someone else classified as normal but is seen as barbaric by another group of people who have their own norm?

Tomas Castro