What Lies Beyond the Image of Our Humanity?

The term dehumanization keeps getting thrown around, but maybe not in the way it should be for the conversation that needs to be had. It could be because some necessary context is missing, and without that, the message almost always gets scrambled before it can be decoded and (at least begin to be) really understood.

What happens when the last unifying image we have — that as being “human” — gets systematically removed (as unifying images historically have) to shift us to a new image of what we are for the future?

It would seem we have two competing images rising to the surface currently, and both require dehumanization, but just in different directions.

These images require our belief and trust bare minimum to take. Well…

What if neither image is particularly appealing? I mean, it’s not exactly the days of the Spanish Inquisition when people were being tortured for “heresy,” so that’s good.

But then again, the Spanish Inquisition wasn’t wielding psychology, algorithms, and bots. (Oh my!)

Are we letting ourselves be downgraded?