Humanization is the act and consequence of becoming humanized or humanized . This verb (humanize), meanwhile, refers to making something or someone human : sensitive, understanding or with the nature of people.
One of the most common uses of the concept refers to treating animals like human beings . Humanizing a dog, for example, involves dressing it, celebrating its birthday with a meeting and a cake, giving it aesthetic treatments, etc.
The idea of humanization is also linked to providing or generating kindness, compassion, benevolence or clemency . Humanization is also associated with solidarity, affection and dignity .
People often talk about the humanization of health care . In this case, the doctrine or tendency consists of treating patients with respect and love , seeking to understand their emotions, their concerns and their desires.
This humanization involves work or intervention by professionals that goes beyond their scientific and technical knowledge. It is not enough for a doctor to know how to diagnose and indicate a treatment, but his or her work , with the humanization of the task, must be based on the aforementioned values to minimize the patient's suffering and maximize, as far as possible, their well-being.
Just as in the case of animals there is a general tendency to think that they are "inferior" and that humanizing them is giving them the honor of resembling us, in this case the apparently inverse although similar process occurs: first the patients are reduced to level of an object of study , and then it is necessary to elevate them so that they receive the respect they deserve.
When the evolution of Homo sapiens is studied, on the other hand, a distinction is made between hominization and humanization . Hominization is a genetic and biological process that took place over millions of years and that caused the members of our species to become human beings. Humanization, on the other hand, is not biological, but social, and is given by the development of culture and the acquisition of language, among other factors.
The humanization process, therefore, is related to the cultural evolution of our species, which began with the first hominids. To adapt to the environment, it had to go through different changes in this aspect, and in this way, little by little, homo sapiens sapiens emerged. It is important to understand that without this concept hominization would not have been possible, and the same in the opposite sense; For this reason we speak of coevolution .
The cultural transformations that this long process entailed are several, although the following stand out:
* hunting : thanks to this discipline, hominids especially developed their ability to observe and understand their environment, through the planning of strategies that were based on the interpretation of the signals and signs they warned about. They also had to go through the progress of their hunting techniques, to become increasingly more effective. Another aspect in which he benefited was communication, through collaboration and teamwork, very necessary to face the largest and strongest animals;
* fire : its discovery made it easier to settle and form a home , without neglecting the advantages for planning hunting and protection against animals. All this led to an improvement in his diet, which had an impact on an acceleration of his evolution;
* constant learning : throughout childhood and adolescence, human beings and their closest ancestors live a stage characterized by the learning of numerous concepts, which include social norms, values and technical issues that will help them develop. on your own when the time comes to become independent.