What is dehumanization?

What Does dehumanization Mean

Dehumanization is the act and effect of dehumanizing : stripping away human traits. Dehumanize is a word that has its etymological origin in Latin. And it is the result of several clearly defined components of said language:

-The prefix “des-”, which indicates the investment of the action.

-The word “humanus”, which means “belonging to the earth”.

-The verb “izare”, which can be translated as “turn into”.

The concept is often used in the field of social sciences to refer to the process that deprives a human being of those characteristics that identify the species.
Dehumanization is often linked to the loss of ethical values ​​and sensitivity . A person becomes dehumanized, for example, when he becomes indifferent to the pain of the other. It can be said that the attitude of one who walks past a dying person and does not stop to help him is the result of his dehumanization.

Beyond individual cases, dehumanization is often considered a social issue . It can be said in a broad sense that modern societies are no longer moved or outraged by tragedies that previously did generate an impact. Therefore, people became dehumanized: they do not feel empathy or compassion as they did in the past.
Abandoning a child, moving away from grandparents, not caring about neighbors and not exercising solidarity are other reflections of dehumanization that show how many people, for various reasons, have distanced themselves from the essence of the human condition, or from that which was considered to characterize our species .
Specifically, we can establish that there are several causes for today's society to be marked by a clear dehumanization, among which these stand out:

-Sociological factors, such as the plurality of ethical systems, the impoverishment of interpersonal relationships, the demands of sacrifice or the satisfaction of one's own interests.

-Individual factors, such as false expectations, selfishness and self-centeredness, the need to be the best in everything, unhealthy competitiveness ...
Dehumanization can also be understood as a consequence of the alienation caused by technology . Decades ago, the human being left life in community and began to isolate himself more and more, replacing interpersonal relationships with virtual ties. The constant use of machines at work also sometimes means that the individual does not use their creativity, but acts as a simple cog within a system.
In the same way, there is also talk of the dehumanization of art, which was a concept created in the first half of the 20th century. Specifically, it was the philosopher Ortega y Gasset who made it known through his 1925 work entitled "The dehumanization of art."

Specifically, with that term, what I came to expose is that after the First World War, different “isms” had arisen both in art and in literature where a lack of humanity was evident. In other words, he considered that the “human ingredients” had disappeared in them, while surrealism, secrecy and inconsequence existed in them, as well as a clear desire to innovate and antiromanticism.