the.com/dehumanization
the mental trick where a person becomes a category, and cruelty stops feeling like cruelty.
means a psychological process of framing people as less than fully human so that mistreating them feels justified or even necessary.
from from latin humanus, human, with de- stripping it away; the concept crystallized in 20th-century social psychology after researchers tried to explain how ordinary people participated in atrocities like the holocaust.
brain scans showempathy regions literally dim toward dehumanized groups
language does itcomparing people to vermin, insects, or disease works fastest
self-directed toopeople dehumanize themselves under extreme shame or trauma
first stepalmost always precedes organized violence historically