Being "Normal" is overrated (and just a state of mind).

Last week during Gawai in Saratok, an Aunty of mine sparked up an interesting conversation with a statement of hers. She said that "Schools and university makes us stupid." Mind you, she is an engineer. Her justification is that it confines you to a single idea that is the general consensus of the majority so that the society can keep you aligned with their mode of thinking. It turns you into "normal" people in which people with different opinions get shunned away. They are labelled as stupid or not being able to comprehend "reality" or "truth". People who ask question outside of the norm will be ignored and forced to follow the majority's idea to be deemed normal.

Now, generally school goers and university students tend to fall into the abyss of following and taking what their lecturers say totally. This also includes religious institutions and government controlled media. People swallow the crap given to them without thinking twice. Other opinions are shunned and put to shame, making them labelled as abnormal. We never question as it is in our culture and it is a tabboo. You know what that makes you? A sheep. You are turned into a machine that follows society's rules and regulation. You fall into the abyss where getting a masters is deemed by normal people as an excellent choice careerwise. I have to admit that having a masters, degree or what ever certificate out there helps you get a job in this life but must the society look down onto people who don't have them? Are you looking down onto the people in massage parlors that don't have degrees who probably know more about medicinal benefits of certain items than you degree holders out there. This "normal" conception must be changed in our society.

Our society must have a mental in which we listen to everyone's opinion and allow anyone to question anything because it is the best way for us to progress. Society shouldn't swallow things directly what is thrown at them. I am not teaching you to be paranoid, I am telling you to look what are you putting down you throat before it is encrypted into your brains. Are you willing to go on with what society has to offer just to be deem "normal"? Are you going to stop your dreams of being the 1st person to travel around the world with a boat made out of tin cans (or what ever wild dreams you had when you were a kid)?

Let me tell you a story about a kid who was labelled as abnormal or stupid by his friends.

One day, in a kindergarten, a little boy by the name of Jimmy was colouring a scenery of a clear sky and a scenery of mountains. He questioned his teacher,

"Miss Rebecca, what colour is the sky?"

"Why it's blue my boy. The clouds are white."

"Can I colour it purple?"

Then his friend, Tommy interupted:
"Don't be stupid, the colour of the sky is blue. Face that fact."

Jimmy then replied:
"I don't care, I want to colour it purple."

"Why can't you be like other normal people and colour it blue?"

"You mean colouring it purple will make me not normal? Well, Miss Rebecca, I don't want to be normal like what Jimmy said."

Miss Rebecca then replied "It's up to you."

Class was dismissed and Jimmy continued colouring his scenery with a purple sky and grey clouds. Later that evening, Jimmy and Tommy took a walk at the side of the forrest near the village they lvie in. He points to the sky and the clouds and ask Tommy:

"Tommy, what was the colour of the sky you drew?"

"Blue, why? Don't tell me you colour your sky purple?"

"Well, look at the sky."

The sun was setting and the sky, it actually, was purple. The clouds were grey as it was cloudy, instead of white as what Tommy coloured. Tommy, looked at the sky, dumbfounded.

The question is now, who is stupid, who is smart? Who is normal? Hence, being normal is overrated, it is just a state of mind. Don't dismiss another person's idea as crap the moment you hear them. Maybe that person has a different perspective of life and has his/her own opinion. Don't dismiss a person because he or she knows something from another perspective and tell them they are not normal. Without these "abnormal" people, the world wounldn't advance as there is no one who questions outside the norm of society. Remember, Isaac Newton and Einstein were deemed as stupid at their young age. Not because they were slow learners, but they question a lot in life unlike "normal" people.

PS:Schools/universities should stop using the term subjective question in their exam papers. It makes you look, well, dumb because a real subjective question has no answer but people who mark them have an answer sheet and the answer given must be aligned to the school of thought given in the marking scheme. Subjective questions are meant to be open ended and differs from one person to another.