Lura Forcum: How to Human (And Why We've Stopped)
Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each OtherShow Notes
What if the way we talk about "the other side" isn't just rude — it's something closer to dehumanization? Consumer and social psychologist Lura Forcum has a precise vocabulary for what's happening, and a clear-eyed prescription for what to do about it.
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Lura writes the newsletter How to Human and co-hosts We Made This Political with political scientist Lauren Hall. Her work sits at the intersection of human behavior, civic life, and the social cognition we're outsourcing to screens, algorithms, and AI.
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Key Takeaways
Infrahumanization is the dehumanization we don't notice. Calling people vermin is rare and widely rejected. But treating the other side as interchangeable, simple, or incapable of real suffering? That's everywhere — and it's the mental move that makes cruelty psychologically possible.
Politics is relational, and we've been pretending it isn't. Civic life is built from relationships that require reciprocity. We've convinced ourselves the normal rules don't apply when the subject is politics. They do. Broken relationships have to be repaired.
We evolved for face-to-face. We didn't evolve for this. Online, you never have to reckon with being wrong about someone. In person, you're stuck with them — and that's the point.
About Our Guest
Lura Forcum is a consumer and social psychologist, strategic advisor, and former professor. She writes How to Human on Substack and co-hosts We Made This Political with Lauren Hall.
Links and Resources
How to Human: luraforcum.substack.com
We Made This Political: wemadethispolitical.substack.com
Lura on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/luraforcum
Grateful to our friends at The Democracy Group: www.democracygroup.org
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