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Re:Scientists discover how a common mutation leads to ‘night... by sokoloff on Saturday October 31, 2020 @11:13AM (#24952078)
> who do you think you are, to believe that you are more normal than me?!

If an overwhelmingly large proportion of a population exhibits tendency A and a smaller group tendency B, we describe the first group as normal. It’s not a value judgement so much as it is a useful description using a word from the dictionary.

Re:Scientists discover how a common mutation leads to ‘night... by wearsshoes on Saturday October 31, 2020 @11:22AM (#24952144)
Of course, dictionaries also recognize the value-judgement meaning of the word, as you would expect, because people do use this word to cast value judgements in everyday language. (1) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/normal (2) https://www.lexico.com/definition/normal
Re:Scientists discover how a common mutation leads to ‘night... by zepto on Saturday October 31, 2020 @02:09PM (#24953775)
It’s hard to think of something which is more of a value judgement than the use of the word ‘normal’.

It happens to correspond to the statistical definition, and certainly that is the mathematical meaning, but in every domain outside of pure mathematics, it always implies a value judgement.

Re:Scientists discover how a common mutation leads to ‘night... by ordu on Saturday October 31, 2020 @12:00PM (#24952500)
There are different meanings for a word "normal". The meaning could be just a statistical average, in some cases. But in any case when we say "normal" the receiving side of communication hears all meanings of a word "normal". Even if the receiving side managed to filter irrelevant meanings of the word "normal" correctly, nevertheless all filtered meanings were heard.

Moreover in this particular case it is not just about statistical averages, it is about social norms which were built around statistical averages. So a normality in this case it is also the rights to have social norms to be built with a respect to my needs.

Re:Scientists discover how a common mutation leads to ‘night... by Ataraxy on Saturday October 31, 2020 @02:48PM (#24954138)
Yeah, screw you left handed freaks! /s
Re:Scientists discover how a common mutation leads to ‘night... by PunchTornado on Saturday October 31, 2020 @11:59AM (#24952488)
but we stopped, for good reasons, describing straight couples as normal and the others as not normal.

Categorising a group of people as not normal has negative effects.