Posted by SLS on October 15, 2011, at 23:08:19
In reply to Re: Just a thought..., posted by Phillipa on October 15, 2011, at 19:19:49
> Normal sane? So in mental illness the absence of normal is insane? Phillipa
I don't use the words "sane" and "insane" to describe mental health or mental illness. Lawyers and judges use them, I know. They have their own prescribed definitions. What do these words mean to you as you used them above?
As best as I can determine, a dictionary offers descriptions of word usage past and present. It does not originate or impose word definitions upon society. Like it or not, in the past, people have used the word "normal" to provide a contrast in their definitions of sanity and insanity.
By the way Phillipa, what is your definition of the word "normal"? Would you know what someone meant were they to use the word "normal" to describe the results of a EKG?
Speaking of obfuscation, I find all of this rhetoric surrounding the use of the word "normal" to be an obfuscation of the otherwise obvious meaning of my original post.
That's all for now.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:999643
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111006/msgs/999862.html