# Are nice people the world's biggest problem ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345 "2014-09-12T22:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/1 "2014-09-12T22:56:40Z")
Recnt news - update on Milgram’s experiment says that the more agreeable a person is, the more likely they are to obey a brutal authority. > [@](#): > > Now a new study using a variation of Milgram’s experiments shows that people with _more agreeable, [conscientious](http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/conscientiousness) personalities_ are more likely to make harmful choices.1 In these new obedience experiments, people with more social graces were the ones who complied with the experimenter’s wishes and delivered electric shocks they believed could harm an innocent person. By contrast, people with _more contrarian, less agreeable personalities_ were more likely to _refuse_ to hurt other people when told to do so. Is this true anecdotally ? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/2 "2014-09-12T23:00:48Z")
Nice people are a problem sometimes, but jerks and haters are still worse still. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/3 "2014-09-12T23:01:22Z")
I think both groups commit different sins. ---
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/4 "2014-09-12T23:03:48Z")
Someone should ask, to be timely and topical, Deputy Sheriff Deehan (who, if he weren’t so agreeable, would’ve told the judge “uhm, no sir ree (‘Guantanamo’) Bobm that I will not do”: > **[Perspective | A stunning lack of humanity in Md. courtroom](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-official-wants-judge-removed-for-ordering-man-be-shocked-with-stun-cuff/2014/09/09/6397b7aa-385c-11e4-8601-97ba88884ffd_story.html)** > > Judge orders a defendant to get a 50,000-volt shock through an ankle device. The first clicks didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/5 "2014-09-12T23:03:51Z")
The research says a little more > [@](#): > > It turns out that people holding _left-wing_ political views were _less willing_ to comply with demands to inflict suffering. A third group was also more likely to go against the grain and refuse destructive orders—women who had previously participated in rebellious political activism such as strikes or occupying a factory. …interesting Cue objection based on Stalin or Mao… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/6 "2014-09-12T23:08:13Z")
Nice people are the _worst_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/7 "2014-09-12T23:09:37Z")
_Someone_ has to finish last. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/8 "2014-09-13T00:28:51Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Recnt news - update on Milgram’s experiment says that the more agreeable a person is, the more likely they are to obey a brutal authority. . . . The less agreeable a person is, the more likely they are to actually be a brutal authority. More seriously, yes, a lot of evil has been done by people who were only following orders. But a lot of evil has been done by machines, too, which “follow orders” without the capability of reflection or dissent. We live in a world where the mechanisms of evil have been highly industrialized. The best approach is education, and lots of it. Teach people how to evaluate situations for moral content, and what to do about it. Empower people. Protect “whistle blowers.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/9 "2014-09-13T01:09:30Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Recnt news - update on Milgram’s experiment says that the more agreeable a person is, the more likely they are to obey a brutal authority. > > Is this true anecdotally ? OK, first of all, nice does not mean agreeable. Full stop. They’re different values. Second, agreeable people are more likely to do bad things, but they’re also more likely to do good things. Sure, the world needs radicals and free thinkers, but more than that it needs policemen and soldiers and people who follow orders. ---
**Author:** ![Knowledgable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@Knowledgable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowledgable)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/10 "2014-09-13T01:15:03Z")
If you actually think that nice people are our worst problem then eliminate all of them in your mind. Think of a World where people would never act in such ways that would be classified as “nice”. Now did you like that horrible place? No. Then the answer is no too. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/11 "2014-09-13T01:34:18Z")
> [@](#): > > OK, first of all, nice does not mean agreeable. Full stop. They’re different values. Oh it does. There is considerable overlap. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/12 "2014-09-13T01:38:31Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Recnt news - update on Milgram’s experiment says that the more agreeable a person is, the more likely they are to obey a brutal authority. > > Is this true anecdotally ? No. Milgram’s experiment sets up a purely artificial scenario; it is also [highly flawed and unscientific](http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/electric-schlock-65377/). It really does not prove anything about human tendency to obey authority. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/13 "2014-09-13T02:20:02Z")
I think the brutal authority worse than the agreeable simpleton obeying orders. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/14 "2014-09-13T02:51:15Z")
> [@](#): > > it is also [highly flawed and unscientific](http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/electric-schlock-65377/). Excellent, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/15 "2014-09-13T04:18:06Z")
Please continue. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/16 "2014-09-13T04:26:42Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > Someone should ask, to be timely and topical, Deputy Sheriff Deehan (who, if he weren’t so agreeable, would’ve told the judge “uhm, no sir ree (‘Guantanamo’) Bobm that I will not do”: > > [http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-official-wants-judge-removed-for-ordering-man-be-shocked-with-stun-cuff/2014/09/09/6397b7aa-385c-11e4-8601-97ba88884ffd\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-official-wants-judge-removed-for-ordering-man-be-shocked-with-stun-cuff/2014/09/09/6397b7aa-385c-11e4-8601-97ba88884ffd_story.html) Wow, that’s pretty damned disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/17 "2014-09-13T04:38:22Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Wow, that’s pretty damned disturbing. Well, at least you can take comfort in the fact that the Sheriff’s Office did an internal investigation about this incident and found no one to have acted inappropriately (“no one” being the judge and the deputy who actually shocked the guy). So I’m relieved. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/18 "2014-09-13T05:02:03Z")
I’m unclear on the connection between the guy holding the door open for a woman carrying an infant and groceries, and the guy gassing people in the third reich. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/19 "2014-09-13T11:32:29Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’m unclear on the connection between the guy holding the door open for a woman carrying an infant and groceries, and the guy gassing people in the third reich. They both know how to hold doors open for people. D’uh! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345/20 "2014-09-13T11:41:14Z")
So is _this_ why Women Don’t Like “Nice” Guys? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nice-people-the-worlds-biggest-problem/698345.md?page=2)