Humanisation

When a child says, “Oh, the bear has a boo boo!”, they are humanizing the toy. How wonderful it is that children love to anthropomorphize! And how sad it is that many begin to lose this ability as they grow up. Some even lose it completely.

Humanization is a phenomenon that allows us to recognize and respect the humanity in our opponents without violating their moral rights. Humanization makes it impossible to justify violence. It helps us stay away from stereotypes and feel empathy. Thanks to it, we keep our focus on the needs and values of both ourselves and those around us. A person who can humanize is capable of navigating conflicts. They know how to build dialogue and find common ground—similar motivations for achieving safety, control, and identity among all participants in the conflict. They focus on shared interests within the group and can solve problems and think critically.

I would argue that the ability to humanize is directly linked to happiness and mental health. Nurture this ability in your child. Let them care for trees and plants, sing lullabies to their toys.

Dehumanization is the complete loss of the ability to humanize. Dehumanization allows one to perceive an opponent as subhuman through psychological processes such as:

• Attributing an “enemy image” to the opponent: this can be easily done through narratives.
• Polarization: an ideology of good versus evil, where the enemy is, of course, evil and not subject to moral laws.

• Projection: people attribute to their opponents what they themselves are actually guilty of.

• Deindividuation: perceiving a person as part of a group or category rather than as an individual.

• Zero-sum thinking: since dehumanization turns conflict into a “war between good and evil,” victory over the enemy and losses for the enemy become the only solution to the conflict.

Perhaps no one is protected from these processes. But I am convinced that the ability to humanize is an evolutionary and social advantage. Does your child humanize anything—toys, animals, objects, nature? Perhaps you do too?

Author: Katrina Markova