📅 Thought for today:

‘Nothing disrupts dehumanization more quickly than inviting someone over, looking into their eyes, hearing their voice, and listening.’

— Sarah Schulman

#thoughtfortoday #othering #dehumanization #echo #passagg #listen #becurious

“Othering” is on my mind. It has come up in a client conversation twice this year (so the last 8 days) and was also brought to mind by a friend’s post about negativity and negative attitudes; a post on LinkedIn about “what is acceptable on LinkedIn” and a lot of comments about people’s beliefs and values which are different.

Let’s start with what “othering” is. I take this definition from verywellminds.com because it is on point:

“Othering is a phenomenon in which some individuals or groups are defined and labelled as not fitting in within the norms of a social group. It is an effect that influences how people perceive and treat those who are viewed as being part of the in-group versus those who are seen as being part of the out-group.”

You can read more on the website.

Excluding people from our social circles because we find their views uncomfortable, or we disagree with them, or they don’t agree with us, is a form of passive-aggressive behaviour. We won’t engage, embrace or be curious about another person – we just block them out.

Creating our own echo chamber.

And social media makes this very easy – that and the fact that there are no norms for discourse and anonymity amplifies and polarises the way in which opinions are expressed.

I’ve been pondering this all weekend, I’m not sure I am particularly clear myself, what are your views (lean-in, tell me, we can disagree and still be friends!)