@catraxx I feel you on the part about the detachment. I don't feel it during my interaction with furries, but that's 100% online so there are aspects I simply never encounter. The one thing that would do it for me is trying to wear a fursuit myself, probably even if it was a perfect recreation of Areon to match my human anatomy because it's still stuffy and exhausting, not to mention the limited field of vision.
I do think that the casualness of furries is what prevents the fandom from going down the same path as therianthropy, so to me it's a net positive.
Therianthropy has always suffered from a pressure to be perceived as legitimate by others. Part of it is self-imposed, a trap I fell into myself. But the community itself has also created it actively with practices like grilling new members (which is a thing of the past now), and passively with a set of common experiences and ideals. This pressure lead to concepts escalating over time so that people were able to become increasingly more "valid": from "I have an animal soul" over to the more scientific "I'm a psychological therian" over to "I am an animal" and finally the logical conclusion: "I am physically an animal". Each step could only be achieved with a greater disconnect from reality, and the final one basically severed it entirely.
Furries will never have this problem because there aren't any expectations except a vague interest in anthropomorphic animals which nobody would ever bother to verify. There's no pressure for this kind of validation.
Volpeon Extra
@areon@icy.wyvern.rip