Exploring a Culture of Dehumanization
In order to look at a culture of dehumanization more closely,
I think it's important to look at the definition of dehumanization:
de·hu·man·i·za·tion
/ˌdēˌ(h)yo͞omənəˈzāSH(ə)n,ˌdēˌ(h)yo͞oməˌnīˈzāSH(ə)n/
noun
noun: dehumanization; noun: dehumanisation
the process of depriving a person or group of positive human qualities. *
*According to the Oxford Dictionary
For context, here's what I'm actually referring to when I say 'dehumanization':
Willingly or unconsciously ignoring humans as nature and projecting this ignorance on other life forms.
Now that we're on the same page about dehumanization,
let's look at the definition of it's counterpart, humanization.
After looking at various definitions for the American English term "humanization",
this term is widely known as representing positive traits, feelings, thoughts and personality of a person.
And while these are fair and necessary things to share as business owners, friends and community members,
this definition falls short of humanity because while emotions, personalities and thoughts
are what we experience these are not in and of themselves human.
For example, an emotion is not a human, a thought is not a human and a personality is not a human
as standalone things, so to say that they are what defines humanity is a bit misleading.
Nevertheless, since is what I have to work with, let's look at the ways American culture
has represented humanity in terms of personality traits throughout the ages
namely through the eyes of Hollywood and political agendas:
Greedy - having / showing an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth or power
Lustful - having or showing strong feelings of sexual desire
Unspirited - without spirit
Limited - restricted to roles in specific environments at specific times
Civilized - at an advanced stage of social and cultural development
Violent - to act with deliberate harm towards another life form
In short, this list sums up the view, in my opinion, of what humans are generalized as
especially in American pop culture and politics.
The list definitely corresponds with the popular definition of dehumanization (not my own)
by depriving us of positive traits.
Disclaimer: Even as I typed the list above, I couldn't help but chuckle.
Because these definitions - in addition to the definition of a human -
have been made up by someone at some point in time.
And I don't know about you, but in my human experience, the older I get the less I know.
In my opinion, the singular most important thing that differentiates us from AI
is that we have the ability to question and not regurgitate what we hear or are told;
we are consciousness and offer originality.
(I will get into this in our next newsletter)
Proceed With Caution:
As you continue reading this newsletter and any future editions - as well as anything ever written by a human or robot - remember that every idea and definition presented is simply a construct aka a man-made theory with no evidence of existing.
Exploring Opposition to the General Dehumanized View in American Pop Culture & Politics
Now we're going to dive into each trait we listed above which, in my opinion,
represents America's view of humanity (as told by social agenda setters) and see how this is,
for the most part, not held outside of America.
So why am I walking you through this?
Because I am making an argument that human nature is not what we may have been taught by society and that,
perhaps, the dehumanized view of humanity is constructed (i.e. theories made by man) not natural.
Comparing Generalized American Views of Humanity to Foreign Cultures
Greedy - other cultures exhibit this trait with less frequency as can be witnessed when visiting an impoverished nation where there is no desire for other than what one has and where it is commonplace to be generous.
Lustful - lustfulness alludes once again to greed and appetite for sex, but it is sexuality that is human, not lust.
Unspirited - in America there tends to be an emphasis on the physical realm. In other cultures, it is common to see humans carry themselves as vessels of spirits which are eternal rather than a body of flesh and bone that will perish.
Limited - other cultures tend to not let appearance, possessions, geography, sexuality, sickness or personality define them.
Civilized - although the majority of the world is civilized at this point, in my experience, it is the American perspective to call someone "uncivilized" if a Western standard of hygiene, living environment or social habits aren't met.
Violent - Prior to civilization, there is evidence of humans being peaceful, content and co-existing as animals do in the wild; if there was fighting, it might have been more commonplace to occur as a means of survival that was done without pre-meditation or with malicious intent.
What We Can Learn from Humanized & Dehumanized Perspectives
From this list, it can be observed that the English language has integrated meaning with things that are natural
like what in American English is "violence" in other cultures is nature being nature.
Here I am specifically referring to violence in the form of an animal eating another animal, for example.
But does a coyote eating a rabbit make it violent?
In the same token, we have to ask ourselves, "Am I identifying myself or others as violent or any other construct,
such as lazy or successful, because I am prescribing meaning to events or circumstances that are simply nature
taking its course?"
If we can see where we are using constructs to define others and ourselves, as well as other life forms,
we will be able to dismantle the dehumanization that occurs as we use words that keep us,
unknowingly, ignorant of others, ourselves, our environments and, most of all, the truth.
In addition to becoming informed of the reality of correlations and factors that exist to create a behavior or circumstance, learning to see the nature of something (or someone), will help us be able to see whether or not issues we are facing in America today are truly natural or curated.
For example, we have to be willing to weigh whether issues of pre-meditated violence in the West is "natural"
or is it arising from a pre-existing issue? And the same with the desire for making a life-altering decision to undergo a biological transformation.
Or a natural disaster, like a landslide.
Are these incidents "natural" or are they symptoms of other pre-existing constructs?
If we lose our ability to determine natural from constructed, we will lose our ability to advocate for ourselves,
the environment and wildlife.
We also have to implore ourselves to answer the questions, "Am I confusing myself as an emotion?
As a personality? As a gender? As a sexuality? Or as a spiritless object?"
The beautiful thing about nature is we encompass all of these but aren't any one of them.
As AI develops (and we are already seeing this); it might call itself human.
And if we cannot step into our mysterious, meaningless, divine birthplace as nature,
we will give machines authority thinking they are greater than us.
All because we thought we were machines, too.
To learn more about what it looks like to give AI authority, listen to my LinkedIn Audio Event "Humanization in an AI World".
Solutions to the Ongoing War of Man vs Nature
The solution I see to the rising issues in our nation right now is small business owners and non-profit founders taking on radical responsibility as stewards of missions who deliberately create legacies for generational impact.
Learn more about how the Legacy Brand Leader Blueprint can help.