My opinion on this might be among the most difficult for people in my local circle to accept. (Disclaimer: I’m not an AI, just autistic. I might have typed out a bit of a thing here… :) )
In the early days of the internet I was exposed to a lot of people calling themselves “Otherkin” online. This community never really went away but most of the old forums seem to have passed on to the great big server in the sky. These people sometimes identified very strongly with non-human identities and always fascinated me. Before my egg breaking I jumped around that community to try and figure out why I myself felt ‘off’ and whether one of their terms fit me. Never entirely, but there were some interesting people there who taught me a lot.
Later on, Furries entered my view. These people reminded me of Otherkin in that some among them reported that their fursonas seemed more real to them than their human identity. A sub-grouping of furries felt they identified more with cartoon versions of animals, calling themselves Toonies, if I recall correctly. I always tried to respect their identities since some of my friends belonged to these groups and I valued these friendships as these were creative. I thought their minds were precious and beautiful for how strongly they managed to convey their identities to me even while the “normal” is so restrictive.
When I started digging into psychology on my path through life, I encountered people who were plural and found similar people among them. Sometimes someone within a system identified as non-human, as a fictive, or was created as a “Tulpa”. These concepts were foreign to me, and I wanted to learn about them as I feel that anyone has a right to be heard and appreciated for who they are.
Appreciating these people who all had different viewpoints on life enriched mine, and I learned from asking them respectfully how they felt, how it all manifested for them, and considered for myself how this related to my own identity. My friends taught me that there are a lot of things which I am not. By eliminating that which I’m not, the identity which fit for me sprang forth as the only logical identity which was ‘right’ for me to identify as. I very much scientific method’d the fuck out of my own identity. ;)
But while their identities might not apply to me, I know some people identify very strongly with being non-human, and might experience species dysphoria as a result. I feel like we can accept this as a given, and just respect one another on this because it enriches the tapestry of life in all its distinct variations.
Some people have trouble with this. Some people have very rigid concepts of what can and cannot exist, and when these concepts get challenged they often react with dismissal, denial, and anger. I feel they’re missing out; life is not just black and white. The lamp does not simply turn off or on with nothing between. There are so many different patterns and colours to play with, and to deny one is to blind yourself to the others.
The universe (some would say multiverse) is a large place, and I’m sure that species dysphoria exists. As long as we can accept some people have it even if we might not, we can find a common ground with one another and treat each other respectfully. That’s all we need to do, really.
Find out who you are, and don’t let naysayers decide it for you.
FAFO. Hate gets you nowhere.