Overall - fair enough, I'm sure it is a minor inconvenience to you that language and symbols can change out from under you.
That said, don't expect much sympathy, feels like saying "The war out there is hurting my ears." Like I get it, if your favorite symbol was the swastika (an ancient religious symbol) then hitler comes to power and ruins it, bummer for you, but doesn't really seem be a battle worth fighting.
Also re:
> if you think there is, compare to eg “the rich”. Are we dehumanizing the rich every time we call them that?
A little bit potentially yes. Like "eat the rich." Our ape ability to discriminate against a whole group relies on our cognitive ability to present thousands of individuals as one entity. I think we all feel this at an innate level -- if I was at a rich friend's house I wouldn't say something like "The rich are..." because I would understand this is potentially offensive generalization.
That said, don't expect much sympathy, feels like saying "The war out there is hurting my ears." Like I get it, if your favorite symbol was the swastika (an ancient religious symbol) then hitler comes to power and ruins it, bummer for you, but doesn't really seem be a battle worth fighting.
Also re:
> if you think there is, compare to eg “the rich”. Are we dehumanizing the rich every time we call them that?
A little bit potentially yes. Like "eat the rich." Our ape ability to discriminate against a whole group relies on our cognitive ability to present thousands of individuals as one entity. I think we all feel this at an innate level -- if I was at a rich friend's house I wouldn't say something like "The rich are..." because I would understand this is potentially offensive generalization.