CIP
The Christian Institute of Philosophy
The Dialogs
Existential Normalization
Seeker
ACP - Ancient Christian Philosopher
Seeker: I often hear you refer to normalization. What exactly is that.
ACP: Yes, let me try to explain. First of all, it is more precisely called Existential Normalization, but that is a mouth full - so I shorten it to just Normalization. Existential means - that which pertains to existance. So Existential Normalization means the normalization of existence.
Normalization is taking an event, idea, concept, or preception and making it "normal" to life. It is the way that the mind adapts reality to make it easier to deal with. For example, if a person becomes ill with a debilitating disease such as heart problems or MS, there will be a period of mental restructuring. That person will go through a period of adjustment where they come to realize that the old life of health is gone and they must now adapt and restructure life to live with the disease. They will begin to consider the disease a "normal" part of life. This ability to normalize reality is absolutely essential for the human mind to remain stable and sane. Life is constantly changing and we have to adjust to survive - and one of the most important ways we adjust is through normalization.
Seeker: OK - I got that. I can see how that works in my own life. Once, many years ago, I was in grade school. I considered that to be normal life, but as I moved up through the grades and grew up physically, I had to adjust to a new normal of life each year.
ACP: Yes! You've got it! A very good example.
Seeker: So then, existential normalization would be the normalizing or adustments we make mentally to deal with existence?
ACP: Exactly! I am impressed. You put all of that together very well.
We are born into a universe that is infinite (unlimited), but our minds are finite (limited). Therefore our existence is something we cannot comprehend. So we must normalize it to make our lives feel controllable and safe - so we can go about our daily business. We have no choice. We either normalize life, or we will quickly go insane.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus Christ
Skeptic
Seeker: Are you saying then that normalization is a way of fooling ourselves, so that we can better deal with life?
ACP: Yes, that is correct. We close the door on many realities of life that we simply cannot deal with. Consider this simple quote from Euripides.
Would you say that he is wrong?
Seeker: By no means! Any sane person knows that Euripides is correct. This is simply a fact of life.
ACP: So then how do we as human beings deal or integrate this fact into our everyday lives? Do we spend time each day thinking we may be gone tomorrow - and gone forever?
Seeker: You mean - shall we dwell on that fact. I would say no. A person that dwells on this reality would become irratic in their living and probably deeply depressed. To live well, we must assume that we will be here tomorrow.
ACP: Good - I agree. So what are we as human beings going to do with this reality? How do we integrate it into our existence and most importantly into our everyday life. How do we live with it?
Seeker: Well, we train our minds not to dwell on it, and assume we will not die between now and tomorrow.
ACP: Excellent! That is right. And it is that training of the mind that I refer to as existential normalization. We normalize away those realities that we simply cannot handle so that we can live out our days in relative peace of mind - feeling safe within our make-believe world. It is such an irony that we often refer to this normalized bubble as the "real world", when in fact it should be called the "unreal world" or at least the "normalized" world.