Don't dehumanize groups or individuals



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.
 
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?
 

GasBandit

Staff member
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.
 
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.
 
This thread was made in response to people not liking when cops regularly kill black people for no good reason without facing consequences.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
Related:
NtXI5og.jpg
 

GasBandit

Staff member
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 :D

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 ;)
 
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