Can we go back to what used to be that always-on differentiation? People are people with souls, so they get “who.” Things get “that” because they will never be people. Would that be possible?
I’ve seen too many instances of depersonalized lost children “that are missing” and dehumanized people “that believe (insert almost any idea here)…” today.
If “who” and “that” were actually wholly interchangeable, like most internetters seem to think they have become, then that would be one thing, I’d probably let it slide. You can tell they’re not really interchangeable, though, because everyone who does it only uses the depersonifying “‘who’ becomes ‘that'” change-out, and no one says “the pencil who is on the desk…” or “the car who is in my garage…” Unless they’re trying to prove they have difficulty with basic English.
[/rant for now]
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