Quote Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios View Post
Assuming that there is generally a choice between cruel & nice to make to get what you want to get, yes someone is going to classify you either as “cruel” or as “nice”.

EDIT: I should perhaps add that I think the topic is really in the title which is a general question quite devoid of specific circumstances. A choice of heuristic in getting what you want: being nice or being cruel, and why would anyone choose the former?
I don't think it answers why we should be generally nice either. The racist town example is case in point.

And if it only justifies "generally", surely it's inadequate? And if there is a reason for being nice in the examples that aren't covered by "generally", wouldn't that reason apply to all the examples that are?

The karma reason is a fairy tale kind of reason. Like "cheaters never prosper" and others, it really only functions as a persuasive, not as a reason.

And what did you want to get out of your hypothetical cruelty here? That's the whole premise of the thread: there's something you desire to be had.
Money, social acceptance in one example, and whatever it is people get out of being rude.