OK, it seems to me that everywhere i go, everyone I meet tells me that they are "unusual" or "eccentric" or that their sense of humor is "really odd."

I always nod politely.

But when someone says they have an odd sense of humor, it almost always means "just not very funny" - and the "not very funny" always sounds just like all the other people who think they have an odd sense of humor. And all of those "eccentric" people? They all kind of seem alike to me. It's odd to me when people tell a Star Trek joke and then smile slyly, and i realize that they think it's an "In" joke.

I was thinking about this the other day when someone was watching the movie "Wayne's World." It's a movie filled with In-Jokes, but *everyone* gets them. They just *feel* like in jokes. They're actually mainstream jokes.

But people like them better if they feel like In jokes - cause it helps them feel like they are eccentric, or odd, or that they have an odd sense of humor.

This all struck me recently when someone told me "Most of my friends pretend to eccentric, but you really *are* eccentric!" and I thought, how odd that that is a compliment!

I mean, I watch *House* on tuesday nights and i drink coke zero. That sounds pretty mainstream to me!

So - are you eccentric?

Are you *really*?

Or are you eccentric just like all of your friends?

Are we all part of a culture that fetishizes "standing out" so much that no one has a chance? Aren't we all pretty much the same?

I'd love to hear what other people think about this.


disclaimer: In writing this, i really wanted to list all the things that make me *really* eccentric. But Who cares? Im just like you, I think.

- stacey

There's more of a problem with this on the net. Everyone thinks they're wild and crazy interesting people... Maybe they are? Maybe, for example, the people that post on the DD fora are all amazing people... Because most of them write and draw comics and such and they're not really a good broad selection of the community.
But then if a lot of us here are considered "eccentric" or somewhat weird by our friends, family, and strangers, we can't really be considered "eccentric" by each other here because then the word has no meaning. You have to be extra strange to stand out here ;)

Personally I consider the term a bit of a mild insult really. I'm just me, when people I know say that I'm weird or eccentric because of my tastes, clothing, appearance, humour etc I just wonder why they can't accept me as I am (as I accept them) without thinking of me in relation to some perceived and artificial "normal" standard.

Theres a joke I heard...

If you're rich, you're "eccentric"

but if you're poor, you're a lunatic. :)


Anyay I think being eccentric these days has a sort of "cool" factor. Being different from the rest ironically is what can make you "in" for some reason.

Especially in the internet where quite alot of people Ive chatted online arent "mainstream"... meaning they got some "oddball views" that arent generally accepted by the rest of society.

Either everyone is a bit odd or no one is or some people are odd but hide it better than some so that there appear to be both odd and "normal" people when in fact everyone is just odd.

Was that eccentric enough for you?

Some people would call me odd I am sure, some would also call me a barely sentient corporate troglodyte. Its all a matter of degrees.

Personally I try to avoid such labels, Im just me. I have the same dreams and worries as everyone else I'm quite sure.

Pete

The day I start wearing a fake walrus mustache and wander around the streets of New York with an unused opium pipe in hand while muttering conspiracy theories under my breath is the day people can start calling me eccentric. At the moment I'm definitely mundane.

I'm normal

In the land of the internet I'm a pretty mild "eccentric"... But I think that's half to do with the communities I hang around in and the people I chat to. Most of the people I know online are outcast creative types who've managed to congregate at certain points - ranging from people who would be considered "normal" to people who are waaaay out there and far weirder than I am. XD

I'd say I was "eccentric" in most people's eyes~ I just seem to do weird/different things without even realising. I get attention for just doing what I do. :(

The idea of faking eccentricities is just silly... It really says something about your character if you feel you have to change yourself and act strangely in order to get people to like you or be with an "in" crowd. All relationships you'll make while living that pretense will be hollow because people won't like you, just the person you're pretending to be. It's the same with any faker really. Most "eccentric" communities welcome all sorts of people anyway~ even "normals"~ XD

In the end everyone is eccentric in their own little way... just some people's eccentricities are more apparent than others.

It's just like how all the children in america now seem to be "above average." Statistically impossible. Everyone is eccentric in their own way, since no two people are alike, but I've found that the true eccentrics never seem to call themselves out. They act as though their eccentric behavior is completely normal and not want attention for it. Someone who is calling themself an eccentric will try and call attention to their odd behavior.
Most eccentric people I know- A guy who dresses like the Undertaker from the WWF every day, even to work, and decorated his truck with lassos, guns, and cow horns, a guy who brings his pet chicken with him to work and into the bar after work, and a kid who got arrested for breaking into his high school homecoming and letting fize guys dressed as gorillas throwing bananas into the dance.

Ah, I'm average, and love being average. Some people try so hard to be "unique" that they completely lose who they are by disliking the mainstream and attaching themselves to the subcultures just for the sake of being "unique". (cough cough-hot topic-cough cough) But that's not really about eccentricities, is it? I can honestly say I've only met a few eccentric people in my life time, and by golly, they have never called themselves eccentric, that's for sure. I've never met a self aware eccentric person.

I think what Ozone Ocean said is true.

You can only be eccentric compared to someone else who is very UNeccentric. One of those "There can be no good without evil" things.

Well, there's a slight problem with that question. You see, if people are "eccentric", then there are "normal" people too. But there's a problem with that:

There is no such thing as normality.

Everyone has their own defenition of normality, therefore, no one is truly normal. Likewise, everyone has their own opinions of strangness, or weirdness.

Granted, we tend to agree on most things. For example, if someone killed someone and shat on their corpse for no good reason, we would say that that's a sign of insanity. But if the person had a reason, say, the guy killed his wife or whatever, our opinions would differenciate.

Everyone is unique. The problem is is that no one really understands that.

Normality and eccentric can both be just implied groups.
One persons vision of normal differs from the other. Same with eccentric.

About the humor thing? I do in fact have a different sense of humor, its pretty dark. But would I consiter it 'unnormal'? no, to the extent that I know alot of people with the same state of humor.

To me I am both a normal person and have a normal sense of humor, but to others, i'm a bit out there, you know?

I think everyone has (at least) something unique about them, but since we're all on the same planet, and all made by the same creator, there will also be commonalities.

I always think of it this way: The amazing thing about snowflakes isn't that each one is unique. The amazing thing is that you can have so many of them, all unique - and yet, they're all still snowflakes.

Thats how i feel about people, too.

Now there's an interesting question. Am I eccentric?

My friends and I are all a bit unconventional. I guess we are considered odd and we do like confirming that opinion. But that doesn't really make us eccentric.

What makes our little group interesting is that we aren't odd the same way. I'm actually frightfully normal when I'm at home. Just not when I'm with the others. They have that effect on me, and I enjoy it.
I keep saying I want to be an eccentric when I grow up, but it's mostly a joke. I have no need to actually seek it out. If I have it in me then it'll come.

So yes, I am.
And no, I am not. It depends on when and where you meet me.

And the humor. People that think they have a special humor just haven't met the other persons who have that kind of humor yet. There's so many things that can affect humor too. Your mood plays an important part. How tired you are too. I've managed to find an ordinary lamp funny at a point where I'd been up too long. Humor doesn't make you special in my eyes and inside jokes are so because the people that uses them can barely remember how they started. Or don't know. I've been introduced to inside jokes and uses them without knowing how they came to be.

There's a reason subcultures exist. It's a way to be special with the others. We do live in a world where it's important to stand out, but it takes something extra to actually be noticed. An extra bit of commitment. And that's why I compliments random people on the street I think looks nice. Everybody has a chance to stand out in that special way people always want to, but you've got to accept that you can't always do it. And stop taking yourself so damned serious all the time.

And now I've just used a lot of words on a comment that pretty much says "I agree with the others".

I agree with Oz and Peter in that eccentricity is relative, and I'll go on further to say that not only is true eccentricity undefinable, but also any sort of personality aspects in general. Traits that we percieve in others are not compared against a common idea of "normality" that everyone holds up, but against each viewer's own personal set of values and beliefs-- like comparing the subject with a photo of the viewer to see if they match up.

However, because judgments always differ from person to person (and are rarely, if ever, given out), we can never truly know what our own personality is like. All perceptions of our own personalities (for example, "I'm social", "I'm outgoing", "I'm not that great at conversation"] have to be gathered through an even shakier process of stitching half-truth opinions from others and the traits of individuals we can "identify" with into a blurry patchwork composite of ourselves.

This, I think, is also why subcultures are so popular: People don't join groups because they believe in the same thing, they join groups in order to believe in the same thing. They're traits that are constructed in the brain, not embedded from birth, and we join subcultures because we feel a need to reinforce these traits with others. (Again, the whole thing with memes.) To a lesser extent, this is why people who want eccentricities say they have eccentricities: to staple down the trait in their minds. (Remember, while "if you say you're weird, you aren't" is a great little catch-22, the definition of "weird" varies from person to person, and so must be reinforced along with our view of ourselves, whether we think we're weird or normal. And people always seem to think of themselves as one of those two, for some reason. Another triumph of brute geometric black-and-white human reason over an unquantifiable shades-of-grey concept.)

...Of course, I don't have this totally figured out yet, so there's a chance that I could be entirely wrong.

these days people seem to WANT to be unique... also known as being 'unusual' or 'eccentric'... but being unique isn't that unique any more :P

I think the biggest problem is that so many people want to stand out and be unique but they do it by conforming to some other group .

Looks like the conversation is pretty much agreed that everyone's eccentric - even if only because there's that difficulty in pinning down what 'normal' is.

HOWEVER, there are people who are labelled - rightly or wrongly - as eccentric, or weird. And to be honest, a lot of those people turned out to be the best people I know.



That's really the only thing I have to add to this conversation. :P Everyone else got all the good ideas already. :P

Everybody's a little weird. Usually I don't say that I'm strange or odd. I prefer to just be myself and let whomever make their own call as to whether or not I'm weird. That's a sort of opinion that's based on standards that few people share. Once my friend made the mistake of claiming he was strange to a group of travellers we were hanging around with... normally that's not an unusual claim but they're travellers! In fact my friend and I were probably some of the more normal people they met.

Dictionary.com
ec�·cen�·tric
adjective 1. deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd: eccentric conduct; an eccentric person.
7. something that is unusual, peculiar, or odd.

In matters taste there is much dispute...
Its all subjective.
I don't think people try to be eccentric.
I think people deep down want to be wanted, want to be acknowledged,...etc
It's existential angst.

Why am I here?
What does it all mean?
What is the worth of my life?

These questions deeply drive everyone in some portion.
And they cry out audibly or other ways to find what I call "home".

The people who as someone said earlier that are truely eccentric don't know they are.
...Cat Lady who smells like mothballs and bengay who feeds poptarts to the pigeons at the park.
...Mowerman who is has buzzing hearing aids and mows his lawn only under the light of the full moon.
...Surly Lawn Ornament Guy who suffers from terrets and frowns all the time and decorates his lawn with silouhettes of deer and man leaning against tree, garden gnomes, lawn jockey, and 20 pink flamingos.

They don't strive to be eccentric they live in their own world...and surprising they seem content.

The rest of us are just trying to fit in or find a home.

Most people don't truly want to be eccentric, because it is a hard life to be eccentric, weird, odd, etc. They want to be fearless, but with a safety net. Different like all the different people, protesting because it's Saturday (old reference). I like using these people to advance my comic skills because I'm a meanypants.

It's seen as sexy to be "differentTM" (I blame the tv and the movie films). Because in real life you just take turns wondering why everyone is missing the point or if you're just nuts.

Personally, I'm not sure if I'm eccentric or not, since much of it is secret behavior there could be many others doing the same things, secretly.

I've kinda skimmed the topic, so if someone else has made this same point, my apologies for the repeat. :D

My thoughts on modern day eccentricity...we live in such a bland, conformist, everyone's-the-same culture, with groups that stand apart from one another but folks typically end up fitting into one of them, that there are people looking desperately for ways to be "different", to stand out. I've seen everything from people who are the most boring, bland people in the world saying, "I'm so wacky and different- I like something my friends don't!", to those who FORCE eccentricity into their everyday behavior- "I'M SO ECCENTRIC, LOOK AT ME! I'M JUMPING ON THE TABLE, WOO!!!"

Personally, I don't know if I'm eccentric or just a little weird. I make random voices in the middle of conversation unconsciously, I'll accidentally do impressions of people, I'll laugh hysterically for five minutes straight and then cut it off with a deadpan and move onto another subject like I forgot that I was laughing, I apparently make faces while talking, etc.

I think this is more just a sign of people who want to break out of the conformity we're being trained into from a young age. *shrug* It's "in" to be eccentric.

Eccentric people annoy the shit out of me. They're clowns without make up, and I hate clowns.

TnTComic
Eccentric people annoy the shit out of me. They're clowns without make up, and I hate clowns.

You didn't answer the question! "Can everyone be eccentric?", Yes or no? :) Just kidding.

MagickLorelai

TnTComic
Eccentric people annoy the shit out of me. They're clowns without make up, and I hate clowns.

You didn't answer the question! "Can everyone be eccentric?", Yes or no? :) Just kidding.

Well played, sir. *tips hat*

I can't help but think: if everyone is different, then doesn't that make everyone the same?

If you take a look at the bigger picture, then you can see that there is nothing that makes anyone different. People who strive to stand out actually make themselves more average. It's human nature to want to be special, and be recognized for who you are and what you do. This is just instinct. If a monkey wants to have the best banana, it has to be in some way superior to all the other monkeys. Instinct forces us to try to stand out. I won't deny that there are some people who don't try. These are the people who find safety in the masses. They don't mind being subordinate to others, so long as they get their fair share of "bananas." Eccentricity is simply a way to move up and get what you want. Whether we're aware of it or not, if we're trying to move up in the world, we have to be eccentric. It's just nice to feel special.


But being special only makes you more human.

StaceyMontgomery
I always think of it this way: The amazing thing about snowflakes isn't that each one is unique. The amazing thing is that you can have so many of them, all unique - and yet, they're all still snowflakes.

Thats how i feel about people, too.

Yes, people are flakes.


what?

TheMidge28

Dictionary.com
ec���·cen���·tric
adjective 1. deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd: eccentric conduct; an eccentric person.
7. something that is unusual, peculiar, or odd.

Ahhhhhhh, the dictionary...works every time!! :P

IF EVERYONE was eccentric, then nobody would be.