Oh, the humanity.

[vakkotaur]

I'm using some links from the last couple weeks to make a point. I want it clear that this post is not about jmaynard or myself (save for the final paragraph). It's simply that these links all too conveniently make my point.

Someone, ranting about those who call themselves "otherkin," once asked what could drive people to dislike their own species so much that they'd disown them and claim themselves to be some other species or creature. It's not too hard to want to distance oneself from many of those who post followups like these folks and post articles like this. After seeing or experiencing that sort of thing, can it be any wonder some would rather consider themselves alien or animal or otherkin or some such?

There are, of course, those who think before saying things. Some people really are adults rather than "grown up five year olds." One such actual adult is fathead316 who is not at all what his LJ and fark username suggests.

The above is not a defense but an explanation. I am fully aware that I am, indeed, human with all the problems and non-problems which that entails. I am not a centaur; I play one on the 'net. I am not Valentine Payne; I (sort of) play the part on some weekends. Oh, yeah. I'm also, despite my efforts to remedy things, more than a little overweight. I am very aware of this condition. But that doesn't prevent me from occasionally wearing lycra in public.

Addendum: I should note that the above is not the only explanation. It is merely a reply to the posed question what could drive people to dislike their own species so much that they'd disown them and claim themselves to be some other species or creature? which is rather presumptive in nature. See kinkyturtle's second comment below.

Comments

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You are right, of course. This sort of silly, childish behavior on the part of so many humans is what leads to wars, riots, racism, sexism, and so many other of the evil things that happen in society as a whole.

Humans, for whatever reason, do not tolerate "difference" well as a rule. And often, the differences they find intolerable can be very insignificant indeed. In this particular case, I think it is a need to somehow feel good about themselves by making fun of someone else, or feeling better than that person for pointless reasons. It's very sad.

However, I think many otherkin, shamans, or others who want to dissociate themselves from the human race have reasons other than this. For myself, I might point to the fact that the human race seems to have wanted to get rid of me for much of my life. Incidents similar to the one you are discussing are very familiar to me. The tiniest differences can bring them on: wrong politics, wrong color hair, wrong clothing, driving the wrong vehicle, not driving a vehicle, using alcohol, not using alcohol, eating meat, not eating meat, being Christian, not being Christian... You see my point. The desire to divide the world into "us" and "them" seems to be a powerful human instinct. And I consider it a very unhealthy one, too.

--'Tivo

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Rejection is another factor, of course. The divides you mention remind me of a supposed comedy bit about (by Emo Phillips?) about differences in religion. It starts out with him talking to a guy, possibly to prevent a suicide. He starts by asking about religion, getting "Christian" and responding with a "What do you, me too." and this repeats through various divisions (Catholic-Protestant, etc.) until at the end there is only the tiniest of differences, but that's enough for a "Die, heretic!" Sometimes the supposedly smallest differences have the biggest fury attached to them.

The text of Emo Philips's "religion" bit

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

I asked him, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?"
He said, "A Christian."
I said, "Me too! Protestant or Catholic?"
He said, "Protestant."
I said, "Me too! What franchise?"
He says, "Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Baptist, or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, or Northern Conservative Reformed Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Eastern Region?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region."
I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Consulate of 1879, or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Consulate of 1912?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Consulate of 1912."
I said, "DIE, heretic!" And I pushed him off the bridge.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Heh. Answering another of your posts made me think of Jonathan Swift, which in turn brought me back to this. You probably remember the cause of the war between Lilliput and its neighboring country of Blefuscu. It came to open warfare over which end of the soft-boiled egg should be opened at the breakfast table. If I remember correctly, the Lilliputians were of the Little-endian persuasion, and so resolute in this matter that they sent any Big-endians found in their country into exile in Blefuscu, where the imperial court supported Big-endianism.

This stuff is every bit as silly. Almost four centuries have passed since Swift penned his biting satire, and humans are still squabbling over the most petty of differences.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. And the then theme repeats more recently in Dr. Seuss's The Butter Battle Book with a similar disagreement about which way to eat buttered bread.

[malterre.livejournal.com]

Oy. This too, shall pass.
I'm still in shock over what this generated.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Not quite the thing I was after, but yeah, this will eventually fade.

The worst is over, it seems. Jay's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live not being a train-wreck takes the wind out detractor's sails. Also, the novelty has worn off. Kiddiots can only scream and whine about something for a so long before Short Attention Span Theater brings them a shiny new target.

The thing itself has yet to fully pass here, and likely won't for a while - and even then it's an exponential fade. Exponential meaning it decays forever and never really reaches a true zero. As Jay put it, "I will never again languish in complete obscurity."

Earlier I asked if the house should be referred to not as "the stable" so much as "the fallout shelter" during all this. But the initial flurry of alarms or such has given way to.. well, not a Cold Shutdown, but at least a controlled reaction. This is not Chernobyl.

[tenax.livejournal.com]

I agree that the us/them is a nasty degree of separation. I also like to think it's a way of trying to gain superiority. "I may be a lame-ass who posts snarky comments on Fark all day, but at least I'm better than XXX."

Myself, I play a raccoon-taur or a rat online for fun. I daydream of fantastic adventures involving daring anthromorphs. I like to fursuit. If someone thinks that makes me less, then thhey can go play in traffic. The people I actually care about don't think less.

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

I'd like to note that I've talked to a few Otherkin and read what they have to say, and their attitude is not like "Humans are a corrupt species so I'm not one". It seems to be more like "I have strange experiences and sensations I could never explain until recently". I don't really understand it either, but what the heck. If I can accept people who believe in a giant invisible man in the sky who can do anything, I can accept people who claim to be dragons in human form. And after all, most of my friends call themselves foxes and skunks and horses and whatnot. :}

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You're right, my explanation wasn't very good. I didn't mean to suggest that otherkin reject humanity and therefore decide they are otherkin. But there certainly is a factor in there of realizing that one just doesn't feel a part of the normal human milieu. At least, there always has been for me. I haven't yet labeled myself as otherkin specifically. But more and more I have a strong desire to not accept the label human.