Normies Are in Hell Too

posted on 2021-03-04

weird people like me often like to think we're the oppressed class; we're the ones for whom institutions don't work, expectations aren't met, we are at a constant disadvantage of having to explain our weird situations to others, etc.

we have salvaged our freedom and individuality, but we have paid a tall price in defecting from social normalcy.

like Tomoko, protagonist of the manga and anime Watamote, we fail society, and society fails us.

she features in the ending to the anime:

and i'm fully on Tomoko's side, here. i'm the weird person, the geek, the weeb, the hipster, the nerd, and i'm very happy with it. i have committed to this life and i think it is the right choice, for me and for probly many more people than end up actually committing to an alternate lifestyle.

however, it is good to, every now and then, remind ourselves that normies suffer their own tragic fate.

where we have escaped through defection, normies are trapped in cooperation hell; they are engaging in a race to the bottom, sacrifice values in order to spend just a bit more resources fitting to societal standards than their peers; lest they be left behind; societal standards which must, by definition, be forever out of reach of anyone, for any set of people attaining them will invent new standards towards which to compete yet again.

a rat race to normalcy.

nothing has made me realize this as much as the following variant on the anime ending, which instead of featuring Tomoko, features her friend Yuu, the prototypical normie.

(be sure to enable english subtitles/closed captions when watching)

posted on 2021-03-04