• nesc@lemmy.cafe
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          22 days ago

          In one way or another you aee .01% of population, e.g. someone is from austria, electrician speaks german and english and italian, goes to church and part of the chorus, their partner is from italy, and they like mountain bikes. How many people like this in the world? How exactly using lemmy is less normal then using another less popular forum?

      • Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        21 days ago

        Niche in this context literally means to be of interest to a small minority. Or to say it in other words, not normal.

        • nesc@lemmy.cafe
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          21 days ago

          I know what the word niche means, it doesn’t in any way or other words mean ‘not normal’.

          • Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            21 days ago

            I don’t know how to paint it more clearly for you. You are talking about interests that are out of the ordinary, not typical for the average population, obscure by definition, you know… niche. Having obscure interests is relatively common in the grand scheme of things but still not typical of the average person on the street. Which makes it not normal. I would go so far as to call it neurodivergent, since it’s most probably the cause of the said interests.

            I do prefer abnormality in my life, probably everyone that managed to get themselves on lemmy does, but we are not a representation of the general population, we are but a niche.

            • nesc@lemmy.cafe
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              21 days ago

              You can be unique, while being normal. Sorry, but visiting a forum doesn’t make you ‘not normal’ in any meaningful way.

              • Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                21 days ago

                I guess we’re going into the definition of normality. To me this just means average, conventional, within certain limits. I would bet my ass most users of this simple forum are not average people, just based on the friction of the sign-up process alone.

                And being unique while being normal is another oximoron from you. Either you are unique or you are average, you can’t be both.

    • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      22 days ago

      Normal is someone you do not know well enough yet. It is a fictitious misconception. If you think about the concept objectively, you likely will not be able to name anyone you know really well that fits into the ideal group you have mentally abstracted as normal. The construct is part of tribalism and our human complex social hierarchy on a subconscious level; we are deciding who is and is not part of our personal tribe and their ranking within that hierarchy relative to our own. Everyone is abstracting on this level, but few are self aware in this space.

      • blarghly@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        21 days ago

        I honestly doubt this. Some people just live life by the book, never have an original thought, and are the square peg the square hole is looking for.