Plus/minus one standard deveation from the mean is between 16% and 84% on a cumulative distribution curve, or about 68%.
texasas, I stand corrected. I should have looked it up before posting instead of relying on memory of a class I took 30 years ago. Three standard deviations are 99.7%. But I do stand by my belief that the use of standard deviations should not be a criteria for passing laws.
It doesn’t mean that someone is necessarily defective, it just means that they deviate from what the majority of the population practices or in other words deviation from the mean or normal which is all Doc was saying. Deviations can be used for manufacturing, human behavior, or any other criteria you want and is not limited to manufacturing or quality control.
All Doc said was that certain sexual preferences (whether a product of birth or development) was not normal or in other words would deviate substantially from the mean of a given population. Dag suggested it was a continuum of behavior but I see it as a deviation of what 80-90% of the given population practices as far as sexual preference. We can argue the numbers and really doesn’t matter except that they would deviate from the mean substantially. Doesn’t mean right or wrong, or defect versus acceptable, just deviating from what a large percentage of the current population practices as far as sexual activity.
Same thing for murderers, robbers, etc. The number of people committing mass criminal acts would NOT be normal, or in other words would DEVIATE from the MEAN of the activities of the population studied. Pick an activity or behavior in a population or whatever and the activity that deviates from the MEAN would be considered not normal. In our political correctness, we try to make any activity, no matter how much it deviates from the population at large and call it normal and I think I would agree with Doc that it is not normal. Currently two tone red and blue cars are not normal but if a lot of people buy them, they could become normal. Gun owners are normal but gun killers are not normal and its getting to be that obesity is normal even though not healthy and skinny short people like me are not normal.
Boy has this converstion covered a lot of ground.
Bing, the issue I have hear, and please don’t let this make you think I am a liberal, is that by defining a percentage of deviation as abnormal means that someone could set the bar so high that 49.x% of the population who voted in the last election, or the one before, or the one before that, etc are abnormal.
@keith
The entire bell curve of normal traits is within the norm of human behavior…whether any particular trait is within one standard deviation or not is totally irrelevant. It was bing who tried to use a Bell curve to differentiate between normal and not. Everything I said was factual. . Homosexuality, hertosexuality and bisexuality are normal human traits…some people get it, some don’t.
As far as Al Gore is concerned and our feelings about global warming, non believers will never be convinced until they actually do some research for themselves. What you or I believe or not believe is not going to change anything. The answers are in the reaseach we do our selves and thanks to people like Al Gore, we do have the Internet.
@texases (thanks for he clarification)
It all must be taken into context. Deviant behavior in Sparta was very different than deviant behavior is in Litchfield… or anywhere else in the modern world. “Normal” is a highly relative term.
dagosa, You are not reading my posts, or you are seeing things that are not there. All I am saying is that I don’t like using the bell curve or standard deviations as a criteria for what is considered acceptable human behavior. I don’t see where that is much different from what you said. I included you in the first part because you and Bing were in this discussion that I was butting into.
As far as climate change, I have not yet stated my opinions on it. You automatically put me into the group that does not believe it is coming and you are wrong about that. It is true that I do not agree 100% with Al Gore, but I do believe that climate change is a fact, that human activity is a part of it but not all of it. I think we can do something about it, but only that portion that we are responsible for. Some of this climate change is part of a natural cycle and we cannot reverse that. If we could, would that not also constitute manipulation of the environment?
Last I heard, the earth currently still about 8 degrees F below the its average temperature and that technically we are still emerging from the last ice age. I have been concerned about the environment and global warming long before Al Gore made his movie.
@keith
I hear you, thanks for the input. I’m guilty of reading two posts at once.
@Bing
I think an explanation of I what I meant when I said a “continuum of behavior”. There are a lot of behavior traits that people have that cannot be measured in absolutes. It may seem shocking to most, but all three of these traits, right handedness, left handedness and ambidextarity are part of each and every human being. How they are expressed depends upon the dominance of one trait over another and the situation… They are not mutual exclusive in each individual. As far as what is NORMAL behavior, I believe it’s that behavior that is acceptable to our society and not that the behavior has to be practiced by the majority.
Sorry Dag,GIGO-thats what I always heard,I think the man is a holier then thou and I dont cotton to people telling me ,do as I say, not as I do.But no one is taking away his achievements,thanks for the enlightment.
I wanted to make Isreal a state a long time ago,but the way I wanted to do it was to bring those highly motivated people here and give them the desert southwest,it might hot have the wealth of the Dead Sea,but there are a lot of resources in the US to draw on.
I hate to admit it right now,but I’ve been so busy since the state released me,I havent had much time to read,plus believe it or not., I’m still cleaning up around here from the June windstorm-Kevin
Sorry didnt read the rest of your post,when I hear him pontificating about what him and Tipper have seen on thier Gadabout adventures I still think hypocrite,At least Amory Lovins tries to practice what he preaches and Al didnt have much to say about selling out to this middle east sounding group(cant spell them),guess in the end money talks and BS walks ? With his wealth he could probaly do a lot more for the enviroment himself,I’m sorry I dont assign too much credibility too people of his type,get in the trenches,then come preach at me-Kevin ;PS not every educated person takes uncle Al seriously
Sorry I couldnt read your links,this computer is getting ready for the cyber graveyard,but I will take your word for it and I stand corrected-G’day
I’m sure human activity is a variable. But hey, we live here too. As long as we’re here we will have some impact, just as studying the behavior of a primative culture affects the behavior just from the presence of the researcher being there.
Bovine flatulance affects the climate too. Should we put corks in all the cattle? Should we shoot 'em?
I’m not averse to mitigating our impact where reasonable, but it’s foolish to think we an eliminate our impact. And it can be counterproductive. “Recycling centers” are becoming so restrictive now that people are starting to dupmp their rubbish in the woods again. In Allenstiwn, we have to pay now to drop off electronics and appliances. We have to get a “permit” at Town Hall.
And lightbulbs? Is it really better to have hundreds of millions of lightbulbs containing mercury vapor throw into the trash (and they will be) than to have incandescent bulbs containing tungsten filaments?
MTBE. No need to discuss THAT bungled decision.
Water-saving toilets. Typically they need to be flushed two or three times on a healthy day.
I could go on.
Look, we live here too. Unless one is willing to elinimate the human species entirely, we’re going to have an impact. That’s the way natue works.
I would like to think that we are bright enough to a) realize the extent to which we are impacting our environment and b) feel responsible to not only our descendants but to the rest of the nature, to actually do something about it instead of saying…we can’t afford it.
We can’t afford not to. The deficit is tied to how we fail to deal with climate change. Each disaster has an expense.
Just like rising healthcare cost needed single payer healthcare as supported by many conservatives to rein in, we disregarded it. We played to the profiteers and here we are.
Same with climate change. Play to the profiteers and the deficit will grow on that front too.
You would’ve founded a Jewish state in the desert SW? (Presumably not Utah…been there already.)
So, instead of displaced Palestinians chanting “Death to Israel!” we’d have…displaced Navajos?
Sorry, but “cowboys vs Indians vs Mormons vs Jews” sounds like the worst action movie EVER 
And as for Al “Gulfstream” Gore, sometimes I imagine he’s an anti-environmentalist sleeper, designed to portray the greens as extremist hypocrites. (He certainly has that net effect, all half-baked conspiracy theories aside.)
Water-saving toilets. Typically they need to be flushed two or three times on a healthy day.
Actually the newer ones are pretty good. You do a quick flush for #1…then hold it down for #2.
But I don’t like them being forces on us. I can understand in Arizona where water is scarce…But here in NH were we get MORE then enough rain it’s not really necessary to force us to buy them.
There’s Human impact…and there’s HUMAN IMPACT. I think we can do better…A LOT BETTER.
Ha meannjoe,i would imagine that they would have a pow wow,seriously I fear that this country will go a period of Balkanazation(please excuse my spelling) the Hispanic constiguency feels that the southwest rightfully belongs to them,some believe that California is already there ,the so called native americans have really recieved a raw deal from the european settlers(I can sympathize with the Indians because I have a fair percentage of Indian blood in my veins) the book that really cemented the way I feel about Indians was"Bury my heart at Wounded Knee",I do not consider Indians savages,if it hadn’t been for Gods mandate about the “Promised Land” I think the Isrealies would be a real asset to this nation…
During the course of my employment we do things to the enviroment,that I certainly dont approve of and I have been at odds before with my employer,I favor treading lightly on the earth,I dont think we can get by with as much now as we did in the past,some of those past legacys are still with us,eg; the desertification of Africa and the list goes on,it never ceases to amaze me the changes this continent has endured since the advent of the Europeans,but I digress.Rush Limbaugh laughs and says the Earth is too big to harm,maybe so-but we sure can mess up the little part that supports us. Yea,Mike I agree we can do a lot better,as for myself I’m a big fan of Fusion power(that big white,bright orb that rises in the east everyday)-Kevin
I am all for being smart with our resources but after all the resources are there for us to use for our betterment. And I said it would be a cold day before I would ever vote republican again but I’m really sick and tired of all the useless laws and restrictions all the time. I think its time to back off a little, catch our breath, rebuild the bank accounts, and really analyse the results. I don’t need a law to tell me not to park my car in the street when it snows.
About our native bretheran, although they prefer to be called Indian and not Native American, at least the “they” that I’ve come across, there were many tribes and they didn’t all get along with each other. And while some were cheated, we did pay for their interest and the quit claim over the land. Might have been 1860 dollars but my Grandfather only paid $1.25 an acre too. I have a lot of respect for their customs and beliefs and some have proven to be formidable business people, at least in Minnesota and parts of South Dakota. Gotta remember back then though the European whites treated other whites pretty badly. The English didn’t really like anyone else, especially Scandinavians with dirt under their finger nails. Its really hard not to stereotype and generalize though since they all had different stories.
I note that in the news this evening that the Treasury Secretary, Geithner, is going to raid the Federal employees pension fund for hundreds of millions of dollars and “will replace it”; with nothing said about where the replacement is coming from.
On another note, my youngest son is an accountant and while talking to me on the phone last night for a few minutes told me about the latest future student loan alteration the Feds have come up with. Student loan debt is a major looming problem with much of due to worthless schooling and degrees along with subsidizing a lifestyle rather than an education.
Apparently what the Feds are going to do is waive any student loan debt if a debtor makes regular payments for X number of years. As per the usual though, there’s a hitch.
The hitch is that while the Feds may forgive the student loan debt what they are then going to do is turn the total amount over to the IRS as earned income with taxes due for that year.
Considering the massive amount of loan debt many students have it will be impossible for them to come up with a lump sum and anyone who has had dealings with the IRS on late taxes know that penalties and interest will make that student loan interest rate look negligible.
This will no doubt lead to withheld income tax refunds, wage garnishments, property liens, and IRS servitude until death.
^ as for tax on unpaid loans, This is no different from short sales on homes.
So many rants on this thread 
@MikeInNH.
If you are municipal water: For your 5 gal toilet, 7gals got to be initially sanitized for your flush and then 5gals gals got to be treated at the sewage plant. Also you got to pay for that pipes to handle the volumes.
Please don’t raise my taxes to pay for your indulgence. 
The fed has everything backwards as far as loans and grants are concerned for education. It is an easy fix. All the govt. has to do is require that the first years tuition be saved by the perspective student and used. Upon completion of that year, proof of successful completion must be sent in by the school to recieve the federally backed loan or grant for the second year. No success, no loan or grant/aid, it’s that simple. Because certifide proof must be sent in, by an accredited school, there is much less chance of fraud from an incompetent student or unauthorized school. In essence, the student gets just 3 years worth or loans for 4 years of schooling unless they continue toward an advanced degree.
As a retired teacher I am a firm believer in federal aid to education, but not for anyone without proven success and sacrifice ahead of time. I also would like to see a program used to fund the education of medical doctors expanded to grants given for three years of military service after other degrees are completed…again these grants are only given out upon succesful completion of semesters or years.