NationStates Jolt Archive

Does it take more effort to be nice or to be mean?

For me it's most of the time its easier to be mean.

It can depend on the situation, I don't think that there's one answer for that question per person let alone in general.

Does it take more effort to be nice or to be mean?

For me it's most of the time its easier to be mean.

On the whole? It seems like people have an easier time being mean, I see this tendency in myself as well, though I try, very actively, to be as nice as I can, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself," or "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." for example.

I've always found it easier to be nice.

I can act mean, of course, but I can't really put my heart into it. My "mean periods" just don't last very long.

I always find it a lot easier to be nice, because being mean always leaves me feeling rather bad and guilty. I don't like to hurt people.

It depends entirely on whether or not you're a total dick.

On the personal level I find it easier to be nice, but I recognize that quite a few times it would probably be easier on me if I was mean.

Mean... though hatred can be really exhausting.

I'm basically always 'nice,' I guess.

Why? It's just easier. Saves braincells, conserves energy, less stress.

And of course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzOIhLJ1C-Y :)

By my very nature, I am quite nice, so it's far easier for me to be nice than to be otherwise.

nice

when you are nice to people they are more likely to be nice to you. when you are mean to people they are more likely to be mean to you.

i hate it when people are mean to me

It's situational. Mostly, it's easier to be nice, but the occasional idiot crops up and elicits meanness. And since being nice keeps my heartburn under control, I try to avoid the idiots.

It is far easier for me to be mean. I really have to work to be nice.

It's situational. Mostly, it's easier to be nice, but the occasional idiot crops up and elicits meanness. And since being nice keeps my heartburn under control, I try to avoid the idiots.

QFT

(It's that way for me too.)

On the personal level I find it easier to be nice, but I recognize that quite a few times it would probably be easier on me if I was mean.

I agree 100% with this. Id prefer to be nice, i like being nice, sometimes im too nice and it backfires. I dont generally stick up for myself a lot and im never mean for no reason, so sometimes people do walk on me a bit. I need to tough it up a bit!!

Depends on the person im talking too...

Whether they present a 'Nice' Target or a 'Mean' Target so to speak, lol...

To me, its really about the other person's attitude whether or not im mean to them...

I think that depends on what you mean by "easier".

If you mean "easier" as in "easier the very moment it happens", I believe being mean is the easier option most of the time. Being mean usually entails acting according to one's own (short-lived, at-the-moment) interest, one's spontaneous feelings / urges, putting your own petty pleasures etc. in front of everyone else's. That's easy. That uses no energy to consider others.

If you mean "easier" as "easier in the long run", I guess being nice is the winner. Being mean gets you temporary smugness and relief, but being nice will probably lift your mood long-term, let alone get you all the nice social benefits of other people being nice to you in the long run, too (generally). It'll often take a little effort and counter-impulsive to be nice, but it'll pay again and again, probably even cumulatively. It's like your social insurance, only better.

Overall, I find it easier to be nice. I'm only truly mean/hateful if a friend or family member has been targeted by mean people.

On the whole? It seems like people have an easier time being mean, I see this tendency in myself as well, though I try, very actively, to be as nice as I can, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself," or "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." for example.

You know, it's a bad idea in any society to be recognised as "mean", even if you really are. The best choices available in a society are: "act nice and be nice" or "act nice and be mean", with the latter being more comfortable for people with - let's say highly flexible ethics.

I am nice, really. I am nicer on the internet because it's just text and I can think of stuff before posting. I appear to be mean personally because I usually do not think before speaking and that I am easily misunderstood.

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It depends, but I find that I can be both mean and nice with great ease and in the same quantity.

I always find it a lot easier to be nice, because being mean always leaves me feeling rather bad and guilty. I don't like to hurt people.

^that.

Being generally nice to people is my default state, and not just because it's easier than being mean, but because it's always seemed to me to be a good way to go about my life. People have to do something that I find offensive to deserve being treated less favourably.:cool:

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