From http://www.andrews.edu/~calkins/math/webtexts/stat06.htm http://www.andrews.edu/~calkins/math/webtexts/stat06.htm: Normal in statistics generally refers

From http://www.andrews.edu/~calkins/math/webtexts/stat06.htm http://www.andrews.edu/~calkins/math/webtexts/stat06.htm: Normal in statistics generally refers to the gaussian distribution or the "normal" way we would expect errors to be distributed. When Mandelbrot says: "Granted, the bell curve is often described as normal—or, more precisely, as the normal distribution. But should financial markets then be described as abnormal?", he has reason. But I don't think he even meant it as a very serious remark.