When Dehumanising Becomes Normal

Searching for Humanity in a Dehumanising World

Have things got so bad that dehumanising is becoming the norm?

I cannot express the relief I felt when I woke last Tuesday morning and opened the bedroom curtains to a long awaited blue sky, with sunlight pouring through the window.

I felt my whole body sigh with relief. It was as if some hidden sensors had sent a message racing through me to my brain saying “Hey Gregg, you can breathe again.”

And I did.

I opened the house to let the fresh air breeze through it. I had morning tea with a friend outside in the sunny neighbourhood square, then set myself up for the rest of the day in the garden, working beneath a line of birds perched along the terrace railing. Obviously the right place to bask in the sun.

It may sound cliche, but I actually thought for a moment that nothing could ruin this perfect day. Until, it did. I suppose I should not have been surprised.

When Human Life Becomes Disposable

I do not want to add to the noise around the US president’s post claiming that ‘a whole civilisation will die’ if Iran ignored his demands. But as the world sat watching, unsure whether he would follow those words with attacks on civilians and infrastructure, I think many of us felt sick at the thought that human life could be treated as so disposable when access to oil was on the line.

Not that this is new. Many of us are already aware, or at least becoming more aware, of the atrocities of colonialism and the long history of valuing resources over human lives. Social media of course was abuzz with outrage (rightly so), and perhaps it was the sheer bluntness of his remarks that shocked some people into seeing it more clearly.

But I could not help wondering what repeated exposure to this is doing to our psyche, and how it is filtering into everyday life.

When Systems Stop Feeling Human

Later that day, a friend received a rejection email for a role at one of the largest NGOs in the country, Cordaid Nederland. What stung most was not only the rejection itself, but the way it was delivered. The email was signed simply: ‘Sincerely, H.R.’

No name. Not from a person. No sense that the time, effort, and hope poured into the application had been met by another human being at the other end. The communication felt impersonal, automated and dehumanising.

And I kept thinking after they shared this with me, what exactly is human about Human Resources when even a rejection, from an organisation working in development, cannot come from a person?

It bugged me. 

A day later, I got feedback on a proposal I had painstakingly worked on for weeks, shaping the wording and structure, only to be asked whether it had been generated by AI.  I had to question: Is human care, skill and thought no longer trusted?

And more concerning still, is hearing this growing narrative of ‘Why should I care?’. I got caught unexpectedly in a  conversation I just didn’t have the strength, patience and understanding that day to deal with. I couldn’t help feeling that this narrative has something to do with the constant disregard shown by our governments for climate, environmental and social justice, and for life itself.

Searching for Relief in a Dehumanising World

Again, have things got so bad that dehumanising is becoming the norm?

By the time I could put words to what I was feeling, the question had settled in like a nagging headache. 

Like a painkiller kicking in, I hoped I would get relief from a weekend road trip to Germany.

As our friends were driving, I had the luxury of being chauffeured. From the backseat, during the downtime in conversations,  I caught up with he latest AI generated, Iranian Lego style viral propaganda video.

As impactful as these videos maybe, it unsettled me that with real life tragedy and death, reality seems not enough. That human suffering has to be recreated through pop culture, Lego (god only knows how Lego feel about this), rap music, technology and algorithms to trigger reaction in some Hollywood blockbusting style. What does this say about us?

Although I do think the videos are powerful, I’m left wondering if it is also shrinking the moral scale of what is happening. I fear war is becoming a ‘vibe’ across media, and the civilian suffering becomes a content format. That is a genuine ethical distortion, even when the political anger behind it is understandable.

The problem is that, as an audience, we are so conditioned. And in these particular videos, that is what makes the format work so well.

As I write this on our journey home, I guess the real question I’m leaving Germany with is: when movement, nature, sunlight, being with friends and getting away do not fully restore us, what does that say about the level of psychic strain we are living under?

The weekend was lovely catching up with friends who live in Cologne. Wondering slowly around markets. Being in a different environment. Out of the normal routines of day-to-day life. However, as the weekend draws to an end, and we plan our route home, I notice I am still searching for the relief.

The trip may have helped find relief in parts. But not in the tick-off-the-list, clean way I had hoped. And that, in itself feels telling. I have not been able to switch off entirely and distance did not necessarily create distance. This trip has not fixed anything. If anything, it has simply deepened the line of thought.

So I can’t wrap this up with a neat bow. I don’t have a solution or answer. Instead I remain with the same discomfort. After a full schedule tomorrow we are off to Serbia. Maybe more relief will come while we are there. In the meantime, I look for any tiny act of kindness that leaves me with a sense that deep down, humanity isn’t lost to geopolitics, systems, technology, outrage, overwhelm and exhaustion.

Until next time, Gregg the Human

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** In the interest of transparency: I used AI lightly as an editorial sounding board while writing this piece, mainly to help me think through structure and a couple points on phrasing. The experiences, reflections, and final words/voice and final structure are my own. I primarily use AI for technical aspects such as coding and SEO (search engine optimisation) - the stuff I'm no expert and have no interest in learning.