“Othering” is a Business, and It is Destroying Us
I’ve been increasingly curious about polarization and tendency of humans to easily mark (or be influenced to mark) other people or groups as enemies. As I stated in a previous post, it seems that almost anyone can be an enemy these days. Simply disagreeing with someone because of a stance or belief they hold are grounds for anger, argument, and disconnection. To me, it seems like this phenomenon is only increasing in frequency and intensity. In my curiosity, I decided to do some research to better understand how we got here.
How did we go from the ability to have balanced dialogue in the midst of disagreement to the point of not being able to disagree without intense arguing? How have we become increasingly desensitized to human suffering? Why do we actively separate and cut people out of our lives when we need connection and solidarity more than ever? In asking these questions and more, I’ve come to the realization that some of the most ancient and automatic tendencies of the human brain have been weaponized against us. This weaponization taps into our emotions and is used to keep us fighting for the very purpose of generating profits. Businesses and wealthy individuals are quite literally causing fractures and disconnection at massive scale in our society while making billions. This article aims to provide an understanding of othering, its modern manifestations and impacts, and strategies for progress.
What Is Othering?
Much of what is describe above, including many other areas of conflict in our daily lives has roots in the concept of “othering”. Othering is a naturally occurring process of grouping and categorization that evolved in early humans as a mechanism for safety. Over time, this process has been hijacked by social systems and businesses to incite fear and division while growing profits, power, and control. Today, the population remains splintered, fighting amongst itself over a multitude of conflicts rather than against the very systems that create and perpetuate those conflicts.
Othering has impacted massive historical events including genocide of indigenous cultures, slavery, violence against and control of women, the holocaust, and other events of ethnic cleansing. Even with this impact and its influence on the rising discrimination and hatred we see today, othering itself is not widely discussed in public discourse. Othering is the root cause of many forms of discrimination and conflict we see today. Not only does it divide us and enable forms of hatred and violence, it robs us of humanity's gifts of creativity and ingenuity through collaboration. Othering mires us in conflict and anger rather than using energy and talents to create solutions or fight in solidarity against institutions that aim to keep us disorganized and separate.
John A. Powell of the Othering and Belonging Institute has described othering as “a set of processes that consciously or unconsciously see a person or group as not belonging, different, and often less than in some important way”. We’ve certainly heard the terms racism, xenophobia, homophobia, dehumanization, polarization, and others in increasing frequency. Yet, these terms are often used arbitrarily while failing to identify the origins of these mindsets. The act of othering is the precursor to discrimination and hatred. Once we categorize someone or something as separate from us, they can more easily be treated as less-than, or even, an enemy worthy of mistreatment or harm.
The Origins of Othering
In early development of the human brain, automatic grouping and categorization was required to understand the difference between like and unlike; what was safe and unsafe. One example might be in seeing an animal or another human, and needing to categorize them as a possible danger. This development occurred in the brain’s limbic system, which is known as the reptilian or autonomous part of the brain commonly associated with the flight of flight response. Over thousands of years our brains have evolved, yet this automatic function of our brains has remained, while at the same time being influenced by societal biases and discrimination that has occurred throughout history. What we have today is a very similar limbic system originally designed to keep us safe as hunter gatherers informed by thousands of years of grouping and separation due to factors such as race, religion, sexism.
We can see connections from the past and modern day, where in the past for example, human enslavement was justified by marking groups of people sub-human or animals, thus deserving of enslavement and horrific treatment. In present day as I write this, Palestinian civilians have been called barbaric animals worthy of bombardment and death at the hands of Israel and supported by money and weapons from the United States. This dehumanization begins with othering, with categorization and separation of entire groups, marking them as un-like the rest of us. When we other people, it disconnects them from us, making it easier to pass judgment on them as well as slow or stop feelings of empathy. What is most scary to me, though, is that these natural tendencies of our brains have been mechanized and monetized over many years to the point where othering is required to sustain profits, while at the same time exponentially worsening the its negative impacts.
Othering as A Business
As mentioned, othering has had a direct influence on many darker moments in humanity. Unfortunately, the limbic system that existed in the human brain during these darker moments is largely unchanged in humans today. This primitive brain function which evolved out of our need for safety is no match for modern technology, where companies employ data scientists and behaviorists use personal data and predictive algorithms to know exactly what content will keep our eyes glued to our screens. This practice has been described as “the race to the bottom of the brain stem” by Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, because businesses can now quite literally “hack” this old and susceptible part of our brains serving us content that targets our emotions. Our fears, insecurities, and anger can be used against us to drive profits, which in turn, drives othering.
Sadly, studies have shown that content that stirs negative emotions is more engaging that content that is positive and uplifting. Companies like Meta have been well aware of this fact and actively promote negative content to drive engagement rather than building safety features to mitigate the spread or damage of harmful content that further polarizes us. But Meta is not alone. Here are just a few of the many ways othering is weaponized for the sake of profits.
Advertising - Advertising itself requires our attention in the form of views and clicks. When this entire business model requires a battle for attention, businesses don’t have much incentive other than doing whatever it takes to get and grow views. Thus, much advertising we see today is designed to make us feel separate, and, less than. This preys on our desires to succeed and to fit in. The “solution”: buying the next product to make us look nicer, have a higher status, or simply to look like we are “keeping up”. This has many negative effects that drive profits.
Media - Traditional media profits primarily come from ads. When They need on ads to make money and drive profits, so inflammatory stories with little depth are broadcast to shock and draw in, rather than providing informative and balanced news coverage. Most news outlets today are either conservative leaning or progressively leaning making much of their content focusing on othering those who fall into the opposite group rather than the news itself.
Retail “therapy” - Making purchases to help fill a void or make us feel like we fit in. This is a constant cycle and assault on our brains telling us that we might feel better by buying a shiny new thing. This instant gratification that does not last long, and the calls to buy and upgrade continue perpetually.
“Doomscrolling” - Living through others or “escaping” into social feeds where ads and content we see are served from an algorithm that actively serves us inflammatory posts.
In these scenarios and more, ads are being placed directly against content designed to make us feel separate, as well as against viral content that engages us on an emotional level, generating revenue while dividing us.
War - War and conflict require a consistent stream of othering. Considering war itself is a business, with weapons companies able to make profits from conflicts as well as being publicly traded on the stock market, these companies have incentives for a perpetual line of enemies that must be defeated. Othering is in full swing here, in defense of continuing global conflict of defeating a never-ending line of enemies, as well as in defense of senseless civilian casualties.
Politics - The US political system, which includes a massive industry of lobbyists to influence corporate interests, as well as PACs which serve as funding mechanisms, thrives on othering. Politicians and supporters from both sides other each other on a daily basis. Gridlock is the norm where culture wars take precedence over actionable policies, all while corporations grow wealth and power exponentially.
Far Reaching Impacts
I consider the above systems and others make up what I consider a giant “othering machine”. This machine is designed to make us feel more separate than we are alike. To give us a false sense of where our problems originate and to fight with each other rather than the true source of the many problems that exist for us today. If we are fighting with each other, we are sufficiently distracted and divided so that we won’t be able to organize in the solidarity and numbers required to make lasting change.
To me, the impacts are clear and they are many. First, this othering machine will continue to and grow in intensity unless something is done to stop or reverse the process. If allowed to progress, we will see continuing divides and inability to find common ground on most of the areas of conflict we face. Below is a short and non-exhaustive list of long term impacts of this perpetual othering machine.
Breakdown of trust in institutions and people themselves - This othering machine which thrives on inflammatory information and hate, is incentivized to exponentially spread false or misleading information. This generates confusion and mistrust of institutions that we have typically relied on for grounded information and trust. The further our trust is eroded, the more split we become. The proliferation of othering fractures our communities and groups that were once a place of belonging and safety. We’ve already been living in the era of “fake news”for years, and I can only imagine what our society will look like if we progress further down this path.
Group think, echo chambers, and confirmation bias - The continual breakdown of trust leads to the creation of groups and echo chambers where dissent or opposing views are not allowed or accepted. These groups perpetuate their own ideas and values while othering people and groups that disagree with them. Some groups coming to mind here are incel and flat-eathers, as well as left-leaning cancel culture groups. No matter what side of the political or social aisle these groups land or the beliefs they hold, when we other them we only reinforce the echo chamber.
Stifling of creativity and innovation - When we spend much of our time arguing and othering rather than on collaboration, we are wasting some of our best human gifts. Imagine the things we could accomplish if we were united for positive change against the othering machine. The further we grow apart, the more we lose out on the possibilities of innovation that come from working together towards common goals.
Loneliness and suicide - The more we fracture our communities and social groups, the more likely we are to lose out on human connection and belonging, which are crucial to human survival. It is no wonder that suicide rates have steadily increased over the years, which larger jumps in recent years. Othering is creating a culture of loneliness, which is leading to more suicide. The othering machine is continually reducing the number of possible connections and support we could get from community and family in times we need it most.
Strategies For Progress
How can we possibly reverse this cycle? In my initial research on the concept of othering, I’ve seen a trend in recommended solutions. Several studies and articles I’ve read call for inclusion and belongingness to help bring us back together. While I agree that inclusion and belongingness are crucial to human connection, the sources I’ve read don’t have suggestions on exactly how we get there. I believe it will take a lot of work, but I think we can get there. Here are some of my personal beliefs on how we can start to turn this around.
Bring awareness to systems - We must continually remind ourselves that there are systems that require othering to exist to make profits. These systems which thrive on our separation are our true enemies, not the people that hold differing beliefs than us.
Work on our own awareness - Knowing that the othering machine preys on our emotions, one thing we can do to fight it is get better in touch with them. Being able to notice when we’re angry or our emotions have taken over can make a massive difference when conversations get heated or helping us notice when it is time to leave a situation that is damaging to us. Meditation is one way I’ve been able to better notice my emotions as well as maintain calm in particular situations. Movement practices such as yoga, tai chi, and dance are other examples that come to mind.
Recognizing humanity in others - Through it all, as hard as it may be when coming into contact with someone who has beliefs that seem maddening, again, know that systems had a part in these beliefs. Underneath these beliefs, it is incredibly likely that most people have similar desires such as wanting to live a comfortable, healthy, and enjoyable life. Common ground can be found there and in many other areas.
Be a beacon of change - I’ve been thinking about this one a lot. I see so much fighting and arguing in public spaces and social media especially. I often just watch, and what I see are two groups of people arguing over a particular topic, each group very set and steadfast in their beliefs. All the yelling and insulting is not getting anywhere. It certainly is rarely changing either groups beliefs. Rather than getting deep into these arguments, I suggest using whatever method that feels best to you to respectfully speak your mind and try to find common ground with others. Keep in mind the above points, be prepared to get uncomfortable at times, and set boundaries that allow you to know when to disengage when needed.
I believe one final area we need to consider is holding in our minds that this is actually possible. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is going to be really hard, but I think it can be done. I think we can fight this othering machine, reverse its effects, and rebuild some of the connections we’ve lost. It will take lots of patience, dedication, and reflection, but I truly believe it is possible.
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