@missingbite Other languages distinguish between a formal (impersonal) and a personal ‘you’ based on the degree of familiarity with the individual In Spanish, this would be tu versus Usted. There are even regional variations to that, as Spain and Argentina still use vosotros or vos as a personal plural you while other Spanish speaking countries tend to only use the more formal Ustedes as a plural you.
@tragiclikebowie The use of the word “one” sounds unnecessarily formal in certain contexts to me, and something that I use in formal academic writing but not necessarily day-to-day. That might just be my interpretation.
@PacificRimjob The English language used to have gender neutral pronouns up through Middle English (as noted in the Wiki article @hearkat and @nikipedia referenced). I would also argue that ‘humanity’ involves more than the English language and other languages do have gender-neutral pronouns, including Irish, Armenian, and Farsi.
@syzygy2600 Gender neutral pronouns are especially useful in online discussions when there are no indicators of a person’s chosen gender. By your username, I have no indication of whether you are a he or a she. I could say “they” but that is questionable grammar. If I use xe, I can avoid worrying about offending while still being able to avoid repeating “syzygy” every time I want to reference you.