People use labels like ‘alterhuman’ to seek out people with similar experiences for the sake of community and learning. So I think it’s pretty well-established that folks find the word alterhuman useful - but what about a symbol representing it? This has been on my mind the past couple of days.
First of all, what benefit does a symbol have over a word?
For me, it adds a little bit of symbolic complexity to a word. Because a picture can be interpreted in a whole bunch of ways that a word can’t, it evokes emotions and associations much more readily, and can capture a much more robust idea of a concept than a word can if you do it right. That’s art! And that’s beautiful.
Plus, it’s just nice to look at. If you’re like me and you like your clothes/accessories/bathroom towels to represent your inner self, a symbol lends itself much more nicely to a t-shirt design than a word. It’s accessorizable.
Because of this, it can be a great way to broadcast to just the right people who you are. That neat badge on your messenger bag looks like just a cool design to a layperson, but if another alterhuman sees that, then hey! Suddenly you both know you’re not alone in this place.
Of course, this can be a double edged sword. A symbol can be misinterpreted and appropriated and commodified by someone who isn’t aware of its consensus meaning and just thinks it looks pretty. To ascribe meaning to a symbol like this is to sanctify it, and that means it can be desecrated too. Is that worth it for us?
Otherkin have the elven star and therians the theta-delta. Should alterhumanity have one too? I don’t know if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks here: that’s up to you, and I really want to hear your thoughts on it.
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