At various points, I have attended work related courses and other courses. Every so often, the trainer espouses the notion that if people were 'nicer', the world would be a better place and that you can choose to be 'nice'. From now on, in this diatribe, I will cease to put the word nice in quotation marks as you probably get the idea that I have some problems with the word within the context of human endeavour.
Now actually, if you look at a dictionary definition of the word, you will discover that it's far more nuanced than how it is regularly used within the framework of humanistic philosophies. Indeed, reading a final comment on usage in the 'Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English', they suggest that:
Nice is very commonly used in speech, but in formal writing it is better to avoid it, and to use amusing, beautiful, interesting, etc., according to the meaning.
(Longman Page 700)
From personal observation, human beings are not solely motivated by the need to be nice to other people. They are capable of performing kind acts when the conditions are right for them to do so, but intrinsically, the human race is driven by survival instincts. Ultimately, our needs are governed by the requirement to get through another day. We need food, water, clean air and some form of shelter. We can widen our focus to encompass our families but this is determinant on our relationships with the other members of our families. The essential and rather horrible truth is the fact that we are alone even within social constructs.
When our needs are satiated, we tend to be more open to providing acts of kindness to others. I know friends who work hard for charities and other causes such as the perpetration of religious beliefs. By performing these acts, they feel as though they are making a difference to peoples' lives and indeed, they are. But importantly, it is their choice to be kind. Sometimes, this is driven by reimbursement, you can be paid for working within the charity sector or can achieve some kind of enhancement of your personal status within a religious movement.
My objection to any movement that leans towards 'making a difference' is the level of self-promotion that accompanies the so-called 'altruistic' gestures they provide. For example, charities speculate to accumulate. The bigger charities advertise everywhere, particularly around Christmas when people are more open to giving. The increase of social media to promote causes is no different to the chain letter phenomenon.
To close, I do believe that human beings can be kind and perform intrinsic acts of goodness without expecting any form of return but not all of the time. We also perform acts of atrocity, sometimes with the 'best of intentions'. How many wars have been fought for the stupidest of reasons? I want to believe that the human race can improve but in an age of conspicuous consumption where the value of individualism is not based upon what we are able to create and how we can help others but in what we own, I remain sceptical. Thank goodness for those who aspire to be kind and help others who do not expect continual acknowledgement.
Barry Watt - 17th December 2016.
Afterword.
The quote in bold italics is extracted from page 700 of the 'Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English' (Second Edition: 1987) and is copyright to the Longman Group.
BW
