Hm. How do you define kindness? If you define pure kindness as pure selflessness, then I'd say that's extremely rare, if not impossible. I believe everyone and everything is selfish on some level because we are living creatures. This doesn't make us/bad/, but it does mean that most of our kindness is, on some level, fuelled by the good feelings we get from doing good by others.
I disagree with kindness being completely selfless, though. Again, we're all animals, but we're very social creatures. Whether it be survival instincts, genuine affection, or both (I think it's both for most people), we usually want to be nice to people. Back in the days of inventing fire, a good social standing meant higher survival rates. That instinct is still in our blood. People's actions can't be ignored for this reason, though. Helping an old lady cross the street is still kind, even if you do it because it makes you feel good about yourself.
Also, I think calling kindness "innate" risks someone running with the idea of people being innately good or evil. I strongly oppose the idea of anyone being born as good or bad. Babies can be products of terrible things or people, but that does not mean they automatically want destruction. Likewise, babies born of donators to charity aren't going to pop out of the womb with checks to write.
TL:DR; I think people's kindness is influenced by early humans' survival instincts, but this does not make kindness irrelevant. Believing anyone beings life as anything other than morally neutral risks falling into the belief of some people being ontologically bad and therefore deserving of less.
Thanks for the thoughtful response! Reminds me of my philosophy class when discussing morality.
Ig I was more curious as to other peoples experiences. Do you think you are naturally kind?
People are very different. For example, some people are stronger, faster, smarter, etc - It all ties into the nature vs. nurture argument ig (Ik it’s probably a combo of both)
Ohhhhhhh, gotcha. My bad, haha （´∇｀''）I get what you mean now!
To be honest, I do my best to be kind, but I think I'm average. People call me kind and respectful, but they have not seen me and my best friend playfully insult each other, lol. I think my best trait is my creativity.
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I disagree with kindness being completely selfless, though. Again, we're all animals, but we're very social creatures. Whether it be survival instincts, genuine affection, or both (I think it's both for most people), we usually want to be nice to people. Back in the days of inventing fire, a good social standing meant higher survival rates. That instinct is still in our blood. People's actions can't be ignored for this reason, though. Helping an old lady cross the street is still kind, even if you do it because it makes you feel good about yourself.
Also, I think calling kindness "innate" risks someone running with the idea of people being innately good or evil. I strongly oppose the idea of anyone being born as good or bad. Babies can be products of terrible things or people, but that does not mean they automatically want destruction. Likewise, babies born of donators to charity aren't going to pop out of the womb with checks to write.
TL:DR; I think people's kindness is influenced by early humans' survival instincts, but this does not make kindness irrelevant. Believing anyone beings life as anything other than morally neutral risks falling into the belief of some people being ontologically bad and therefore deserving of less.
Ig I was more curious as to other peoples experiences. Do you think you are naturally kind?
People are very different. For example, some people are stronger, faster, smarter, etc - It all ties into the nature vs. nurture argument ig (Ik it’s probably a combo of both)
It never occurred to me that it doesn’t come easily to others, so I was wondering if kindness had the same affect.
To be honest, I do my best to be kind, but I think I'm average. People call me kind and respectful, but they have not seen me and my best friend playfully insult each other, lol. I think my best trait is my creativity.