I’ve watched this video a few times as I’ve never really stopped to think about it in detail. This is an interesting idea. It’s a vague word, layered with multiple vague meanings. Be concerned and cautioned if someone calls you “nice” or you feel that someone else is being “nice”.
I HATE being called nice. I consider it the worst insult to my being. I KNOW that when someone calls me “nice”, they don’t really mean I’m kind or generous. They mean I’m a fucking pushover. Are you a fake, pretending to be something you are not? Are you weak, pretending or hiding that you are bothered by something?
Nobody calls me kind, generous, or a good person. They say “nice.” Clearly that means something completely different. It means there is a lack of congruence between your internal state and what you are projecting externally. It makes me question who I really am, who I am “being”.
Origins of the word:
Middle English (in the sense ‘stupid’): from Old French, from Latin nescius ‘ignorant’, from nescire ‘not know’. Other early senses included ‘coy, reserved’, giving rise to ‘fastidious, scrupulous’: this led both to the sense ‘fine, subtle’ (regarded by some as the ‘correct’ sense), and to the main current senses.
I think the original definition of the word speaks for itself. Something to reflect upon.
Watch Elliot Hulse’s video about being “nice” here on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPDPtt-eCn0
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