# Being Outside the Crowded Middle Can Signal Originality by Bryant McGill > “Normal is a statistical idea. Behaviors spread across a bell curve, and "normal" simply describes the crowded middle. Being a little outside that middle can be a sign of originality.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream (Dec 2015)* ## Sources and Context - **Authoritative developed source:** [[livestreams/Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream|Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream]] — the Reminder reproduces the complete marked quotation object without alteration. For this workflow, the developed livestream document is the source authority. - **Statistical context:** The quotation distinguishes a descriptive concentration around the middle of a distribution from a moral or developmental standard. Statistical rarity can accompany originality without making every unusual behavior valuable or healthy. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/Thinking a Little Weird Without Murdering Its Strangeness|Thinking a Little Weird Without Murdering Its Strangeness]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Ramanujan Mathematical Universe|The Ramanujan Mathematical Universe]] - **Article:** [[articles/simple reminders/Your Future Begins with Your Next Thought|Your Future Begins with Your Next Thought]] - **Livestream:** [[livestreams/Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream|Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Normality|Normality]] - [[wiki/Originality|Originality]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Normal is a statistical idea. Behaviors spread across a bell curve, and "normal" simply describes the crowded middle. Being a little outside that middle can be a sign of originality.” — Bryant McGill, Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream (Dec 2015) https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bryant-mcgill-crowded-middle-originality ```