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Don't dehumanize groups or individuals

Oct 4, 2017#1

strawman

I've seen a surprising number of posts on here over time as discussions become heated where the poster dehumanizes individuals or groups, actively or passively, directly or indirectly.

This is harmful to discussion, but more importantly harmful to society and the self.

As such, whether you agree with my assessment of your post or not, I (and others, no doubt) may from time to time point out when I believe a post is dehumanizing. I'll link to this discussion so the tangential argument about whether a particular grouping of words is dehumanizing or not can occur here rather than derailing another thread.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumanization
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/dehumanization (found via google search, I know nothing about the site, its authors, or biases, but this article appears to make some good points)

This is also a good topic under which to discuss dehumanization in general, or events of dehumanization in society. For instance, calling out a politician, pundit, or other public figure when they dehumanize another person or group.

I do hope everyone takes a moment to understand what it is, its effects, why it's bad, and chooses not to participate in the dehumanization of others, here or elsewhere in your life.

Oct 4, 2017#2

Bubble181

...Can I still call @Gruebeard a cat or a waffle?

Oct 4, 2017#3

drawn_inward

Bubble181 said:
...Can I still call @Gruebeard a cat or a waffle?

Well, that means you are anthropomorphizing the cat or waffle. The waffle is acceptable, but the cat is a no-no.

Oct 4, 2017#4

Bubble181

drawn_inward said:
Well, that means you are anthropomorphizing the cat or waffle. The waffle is acceptable, but the cat is a no-no.

Fair enough.

Can we just blanket accept all of the NSFW forum can be considered dehumanizing, but that we don't mean any ill will and we do really like our women (or men, or cartoon characters, I don't judge) with intellectual and emotional content and not 2 dimensional?

Oct 4, 2017#5

strawman

Bubble181 said:
Can we just blanket accept all of the NSFW forum can be ... dehumanizing, but that we don't mean any ill will...

Leave it to Bubble181 to ask the difficult questions.

Oct 4, 2017#6

PatrThom

stienman said:
Leave it to Bubble181 to ask the difficult questions.

What else did you expect? He's Belgian.

--Patrick

Oct 4, 2017#7

DarkAudit

PatrThom said:
What else did you expect? He's Belgian.

--Patrick

Oct 4, 2017#8

drawn_inward

PatrThom said:
What else did you expect? He's Belgian.

--Patrick

This is why he can anthropomorphize the waffle. It's a Belgian right. The rest of us better stick to Johnny Cakes.

Oct 4, 2017#9

Celt Z

Mmmm.... I love to eat me some waffle.

...wait, that was dehumanizing, wasn't it? Dammit, I suck at this.

Oct 4, 2017#10

MindDetective

Celt Z said:
Mmmm.... I love to eat me some waffle.

...wait, that was dehumanizing, wasn't it? Dammit, I suck at this.

Depends on your meaning, really.

Oct 4, 2017#11

Celt Z

MindDetective said:
Depends on your meaning, really.

No, wait! I mean

Oct 4, 2017#12

GasBandit

My first time through this thread I read MD's sentence as "depends on your moaning."

Oct 5, 2017#13

Hailey Knight

drawn_inward said:
Well, that means you are anthropomorphizing the cat or waffle. The waffle is acceptable, but the cat is a no-no.

Animorphs: Breakfast Edition

Oct 5, 2017#14

Gruebeard

Bubble181 said:
...Can I still call @Gruebeard . . . a waffle?

Celt Z said:
Mmmm.... I love to eat me some waffle.

...wait, that was dehumanizing, wasn't it? Dammit, I suck at this.

You can dehumanize me all night, sugar!

(Sorry your thread went sideways so quickly, @stienman. Though I'm sure it'll right itself eventually)

Oct 5, 2017#15

GasBandit

I just find it amusing that this thread and the Jay Political Thread were started on the same day - the day the mass shooting thread got locked ... it's like the mass shooting thread had a Star Trek transporter accident and twin good and evil threads came out of the pattern buffer.

Oct 5, 2017#16

Celt Z

Gruebeard said:
You can dehumanize me all night, sugar!

Here kitty, kitty, kitty... :awesome:

(Sorry your thread went sideways so quickly, @stienman. Though I'm sure it'll right itself eventually)

Yes, sorry about that. I meant to agree with your initial post, and then things when all...Halforumy.

Oct 5, 2017#17

strawman

Please keep your hands, head, arms, and legs inside the threads at all times. Do not at any time attempt to stop a moving thread with your body. Wait until the thread comes to a complete stop before dismounting. If a thread appears to be trackless, pointless, obscene, or serene, you do not need to adjust your browser - you are observing the thread in the raw.

Oct 5, 2017#18

blotsfan

This thread was made in response to people not liking when cops regularly kill black people for no good reason without facing consequences.

Oct 5, 2017#19

GasBandit

blotsfan said:
This thread was made in response to people not liking when cops regularly kill black people for no good reason without facing consequences.

No, it wasn't.

Oct 5, 2017#20

strawman

blotsfan said:
This thread was made in response to people not liking when cops regularly kill black people for no good reason without facing consequences.

It wasn't, but thank you for voicing your concern. It was made due to a facebook post about dehumanization, which was made in response to the Las Vegas shootings.

Oct 5, 2017#21

Tress

blotsfan said:
This thread was made in response to people not liking when cops regularly kill black people for no good reason without facing consequences.

Correct if I'm wrong, but you appear to be dehumanizing cops. Please reread the thread title.

Oct 5, 2017#22

blotsfan

Tress said:
Correct if I'm wrong, but you appear to be dehumanizing cops. Please reread the thread title.

So are accusations of dehumanization going to be the hot new thing to derail any argument ever?

Oct 6, 2017#23

GasBandit

blotsfan said:
So are accusations of dehumanization going to be the hot new thing to derail any argument ever?

Just the ones that dehumanize

Oct 6, 2017#24

Tress

blotsfan said:
So are accusations of dehumanization going to be the hot new thing to derail any argument ever?

I know you're full of self-righteous energy and all, but you are literally trying to paint all cops as unfeeling racists who care nothing for the lives of black people. So, you're assigning some very cruel, inhuman motivations to a braod swath of people based on their chosen profession. Or, as I like to call it, "dehumanizing".

Ironically enough, in a thread called "Don't dehumanizes groups or individuals."

In fact, I even gave you a chance to correct me if I was wrong... and instead you implied that I'm somehow distracting from your dehumanizing argument.

So, be a big boy, take a moment to realize that you done fucked up, and give it a rest.

Oct 6, 2017#25

GasBandit

Frankly, I was more of a fan of dehumanizing back when they called it demonizing.

Oct 6, 2017#26

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
Frankly, I was more of a fan of dehumanizing back when they called it demonizing.

It was decided that was unfair to demons.

Really I think "demonizing" is the act of painting something in a potentially undeserved bad light, much like pool tables or monorails, while "dehumanizing" is the attempt to equate a group in toto with a specific set of unfavorable characteristics, thereby allowing all members of that group to be treated as though they all possess/display said unfavorable characteristics.

--Patrick

Oct 6, 2017#27

@Li3n

Pfft, humanizing things is the one that should mean generalizing them as murderous, greedy, self centred beings that can't even see they're hurting themselves.

I mean really, all the other animals are amateurs at those things in comparison.

Oct 6, 2017#28

bhamv3

I keep misreading "dehumanizing" as "dehumidifying".

Oct 6, 2017#29

strawman

GasBandit said:
Frankly, I was more of a fan of dehumanizing back when they called it demonizing.

That's an interesting thought.

To demonize someone is to suggest they are actively, maliciously evil. However, even demons receive some level of respect as "fallen angels", or beings that can be reasoned with.

Oct 6, 2017#30

DarkAudit

stienman said:
That's an interesting thought.

To demonize someone is to suggest they are actively, maliciously evil. However, even demons receive some level of respect as "fallen angels", or beings that can be reasoned with.

See High School DxD as an example. Once you get past the boobies, there's an interesting take on numerous mythologies that invites further thought.

Oct 6, 2017#31

@Li3n

stienman said:
To demonize someone is to suggest they are actively, maliciously evil.

While dehumanising could also imply they're simply mindless, or simple minded or some other quality that makes them less-then-human.

So, is Gas is technically wrong, or simply stating a preference about how we should motivate our dismissal of groups of people?

Oct 6, 2017#32

Eriol

@Li3n said:
Pfft, humanizing things is the one that should mean generalizing them as murderous, greedy, self centred beings that can't even see they're hurting themselves.

I mean really, all the other animals are amateurs at those things in comparison.

Oct 6, 2017#33

Celt Z

bhamv3 said:
I keep misreading "dehumanizing" as "dehumidifying".

Considering where you are, I can see why humidity is the first place your mind
goes. "Did you say 'human' or 'humid'? It's all the same here!"

Oct 6, 2017#34

GasBandit

DarkAudit said:
See High School DxD as an example. Once you get past the boobies, there's an interesting take on numerous mythologies that invites further thought.

That's a LOT of boobies.. a LOT... to get past, though

@Li3n said:
So, is Gas is technically wrong, or simply stating a preference about how we should motivate our dismissal of groups of people?

Or maybe you could enjoy the joke just by getting it

Oct 6, 2017#35

@Li3n

GasBandit said:
Or maybe you could enjoy the joke just by getting it

You mean just take the fun that is there without attempting to increase it's value by exploiting it? Now that's just anti-capitalistic...

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