It is almost a human tendency to ‘other’ others. It happens so regularly in our world today after thousands of years of human and community living that we take ‘othering’ as normal. To ‘diss’ people who are different from us in skin colour, hair texture, language, culture, status, religious belief or limited by a physical, mental, cognitive or developmental condition is actually discrimination. It is the bias we have against others because they are different from our group. It seems like our group Narcissus gene is kicking up and it may be getting worse with current genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes ‘othering’ as the tendency of members of in-groups to consider members of out-groups to have evolved genetically into different, pseudospeciation, was first used by Erik Erikson in 1966, according to his biographer, Lawrence J.Friedman. To go a bit further Francisco Gil-White proposed in 2001 that humans evolved in such a way that the brain perceives different ethnic groups to be equivalent to different biological ‘species’, thus suggesting that ‘othering’ is innate. His hypothesis has yet to receive widespread empirical support. (Current Anthropology, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 515–554.) This can explain to some extent the dehumanization of the enemy as a soldier’s rationale as he goes out to war, the treatment of prisoners, or what might be characterized as the murder of cornered bandits attempting to surrender.

We cannot assume that we are classified or that we even consider ourselves as fully human all our lives. The many situations of discrimination mentioned above invariably involve some version of ‘othering’. Membership in the so-called ‘human community’ is a good bit more exclusive and risky than we’d like to assume. At times membership of the human family may seem revokable as in the case of adults and their children who left this country to fight with ISIS now seem to have no country to belong to. Students who are called ‘stupid’ or other derogatory names or bullied by their peers carry that ‘othering’ pain into adulthood and at times forever.

Interestingly, when I was down with the Covid virus I didn’t feel so human. Much less are people suffering from ailments such as stroke, paralysis, Alzheimer, which absolutely remind us of how fragile the ‘human regime’ is. How easy it is to lose speech or movement or memory or those other ‘gifts’ we take for granted in our dealing with others and ourselves. This broadcasts in the strongest tones how all living creatures are slated for alterations in mind and body, and it may happen to us. We stand to be ‘othered’ too. An octogenarian said that she has become invisible, no one looks her way anymore.

This points to the great human opportunity to break down these barriers by establishing verbal communication. Establishing verbal communication is the link that registers the human and elevates all beings to a comparable status. It carries with it loads of benefits. ‘Talking-with’ (not ‘talking-at’ or ‘talking-down to’) can be translated as the great healing medicine, the great equalizing force, as it includes and bonds people of every tribe, nation, colour and condition. All of us are capable of beautiful conversations which are much much more than words.