Do most people assume that anyone who is different is crazy?

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Do most people assume that anyone who is different is "crazy"? Was there ever a time when people valued other people's differences? Was there a time when people who were different could be thought of as a gifted artist for instance? Is this because of the culture I live in? or the world we live in today? It seems that the moment people notice there is something "different" about an individual, they immediately exclude them and label them "crazy"... Are other countries like this or has the U.S. society become so paranoid and so stressed out to where there really ARE alot of crazy people out there, and therefore, differences are no longer appreciated but feared? Is it because of all the mass shootings?

It seems, the moment someone is suspected of being different, people immediately assume they must be crazy and therefore, dangerous and/or someone to be avoided?? I'm wondering because of our current society, if autistic spectrum symptoms may be less tolerated than before? You would hope with better education about autism and especially with the realization that there are approximately 1 out of 150 people on the spectrum, that tolerance and understanding would increase instead of more paranoia and exclusion.... but I wonder...?

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Maybe this is something you should look into. It can be very rewarding.

Don't generalize the U.S. as there are many countries who will outcast you for even dressing different. It doesn't really happen in the U.S., not where I'm from at least.

People just don't like others who are different. I don't like being around many people who are grossly different from me. Why should I? I very much dislike diversity. I don't like being put into situations where I am uncomfortable, where I have to know what is accepted or not. I don't like the way some people dress, act, talk. That doesn't mean I wouldn't be nice to said person. I'm ok with people whom are my opposite, but I wouldn't get along with them in the long terms. I'm not blind to it.

To add, I don't think these people are crazy, maybe in a religious/fascist society they would be considered that. I do not believe that. Everyone has something wrong with them (in the eyes of whoever is different). Without different people, we wouldn't progress (for the better or the worst). I accept that, but I still want to surround myself with what I consider normal.

No. Everyone is different, therefore we are all weird, and thereby all normal.

I can't say for others, but I don't think anything of the sort. Actually crazy and ret*d are two words I wished had never found their way into the English language. I'm smitten with a guy that has Aspergers and I could live in his mind forever. In other words it's a beautiful thing.

The only people I know who assume that anyone who is different is "crazy" are the ignorant ones!

Short answer: Yes.

Society has a certain view of what is "normal" and what isn't. Although this view is ALWAYS changing, it will ALWAYS be around. There is no one single answer for why people think this way...the human brain is still very much a mystery.
I'm not sure that there ever was a time when people valued others differences. From the early cave-man years, there have been social "rules"...and there will be forever in the years to come.

Hear Hear!

And I'll add to that by saying that back in the 1950's it was much more common for this to happen than it is now. But it still happens now!

People seem to think that people who aren't normal, are crazy, or ret*d. I've dealt with that, until I've moved out of my parents house. It wasn't my parents who've thought that lowly of me, but I did hear teens saying such comments about me, before I've decided to be my own person, in late January/early February, last year. I feel more confident, with my hair punked up, and my jeans rolled up. Maybe that change had caused me not to care what the kids are saying, or what they think. If you want to be different, you have to take a lot of flack, and I've had less trouble taking flack, than I did, as an innocent Austin Powers-type Swinger. I don't think that I'll ever go back to the old days. I'll just end up getting called a ret*d Freak, again.

Most people are neurologically wired to accept the social norms, customs, taboos, and rituals they grow up with as "normal" and part of the "natural order of things and thus consider non-conformists as deviant, sinful, mentally ill, etc.

I guess I'm not able to "conform" even if I wanted to, because I don't understand or see the fine nuances of the way the NTs communicate. They will always be able to pick up a difference it seems, sooner or later.... and therefore, most of them reject me or distance themselves from me. Because of this constant rejection, I have a lack of confidence. I think that lack of confidence shows up in my body language, since my posture isn't tall and sure.. I stand probably more slumped over -- like someone who has had their confidence sabatoged (sp?) by a disability every step of the way. People notice posture immediately and that might be where the "crazy" comments come in right away -- just by the way I walk or stand.. Posture, even from a distance can look different or "non-conforming"... a truly viscious cycle ........