Humans are not machines: Unlearning the manual through a very 'human' story.

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

Sometimes I feel society sees people like machines. If something’s not working, we test the person to find the problem. Care is about maintenance for productivity.

Sometimes, we welcome tests and knowing what ‘better’ looks like. If we’re physically sick or ill, we may need help to find or fix the problem. 

“Efficient, effective, expected!” The standards for humans can feel all too often like quality control. If we don’t meet the mark, we may feel broken, wrong, incomplete.

Yet, people are not machines, nor products on a production line.  Our natural differences are part of who we are. We don’t come as a ‘standard’ model.  There is no one ‘best’ way to be.

Our differences are part of being alive.

• We move differently
• We respire (get energy from different foods)

We interact with our environment in countless different ways.

• We are sensitive to different things 
• We grow differently

Our environments can help us thrive and impact on every element of our lives.

• We reproduce and each of us is unique
• We all excrete differently too! (1)

The wellbeing of all living things is intimately connected with their surroundings. Thriving is multi-layered, interconnected, subjective.

Human wellbeing is also intimately woven into, with and through the spaces we live in. Our relationships and connections to all things, living and non-living, are really important for how and who we are.

Human wellbeing and identity are embodied. Wellbeing and identity may be something we sense ‘within’, yet, they are experienced with and alongside the world around us.

This balance between our authentic self and our relationship with the world is important. Finding spaces where we can be ourselves and connect to what matters to us, supports our wellbeing and identity.

To explore our true self, it helps to know we are safe. Safety is relational too, entwined in the interactions between us and the world around us. Authenticity flourishes in safe entanglements. 

Humans don’t exist within a manual. We have a unique human story instead. When we prioritise relational safety, we also create a space for these stories to unfold.

No one should feel broken, wrong, or incomplete. We are already whole. When we prioritise relational safety, we also create a space for these stories to unfold.

Seeing and valuing human stories is part of our own personal story. We are not separate from those we support, and the care we offer is part of our story,  our wellbeing and our identity too.

The shape of genuinely human care is togetherness (2). 

In the round, not linear; 

Trust, not testing;

Respect for difference, not pushing for resilience.

And in valuing the myriad colours within every human story...We can help everyone feel seen. 

References

1.  Holzwarth, W. & Erlbruch, W. (1989). The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business. Farshore.
2. McGreevy, E., Quinn, A., Law, R., Botha, M., Evans, M., Rose, K., Moyse, R., Boyens, T., Matejko, M., & Pavlopoulou, G. (2026). An Experience Sensitive Approach to Care With and for Autistic Children and Young People in Clinical Services. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 66(1), 107-133.