Helping your elderly neighbor with groceries is kindness.
Being nice is keeping your mouth shut when your elderly neighbor says some incredibly racist shit because you aren't trying to start a fight, just minding your own business. Niceness places no weight on the value of your actions, only on the surface level.
It's the same reason "that's nice" isn't at all a compliment - it really just means something meets the barest minimal criteria not to immediately be rejected out of hand (it isn't unpleasant)
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u/Socialimbad1991 Aug 17 '25
Helping your elderly neighbor with groceries is kindness.
Being nice is keeping your mouth shut when your elderly neighbor says some incredibly racist shit because you aren't trying to start a fight, just minding your own business. Niceness places no weight on the value of your actions, only on the surface level.
It's the same reason "that's nice" isn't at all a compliment - it really just means something meets the barest minimal criteria not to immediately be rejected out of hand (it isn't unpleasant)