04/04/2026
“If ya can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” ~ A moral and value we all need a refresher on 💗
If you’ve observed that people are becoming ruder, especially online, you’re not alone, Arthur C. Brooks argued in 2025. But this coarsening, even toward nonhuman entities, is not harmless. https://theatln.tc/qWbm5lzN
“None of us wants to be treated rudely, online or in person,” Brooks writes—and studies show that when someone is discourteous toward you, they negatively impact your well-being. “Even witnessing rudeness toward others can lower your happiness,” Brooks explains. “When media content contains sarcasm by the author and the comment sections are uncivil, readers become unhappier—even if they agree with the snarky writer or commenters.”
But perhaps more surprising is the effect that your politeness toward others can have on your own mood. In fact, researchers have found that being polite to those around you can actually raise happiness and lower anger. “The effect is so powerful that you benefit from being polite even when your courtesy is extended toward nonhumans,” Brooks continues. Existing research also suggests that “being civil to an AI bot or other nonhuman interface matters; yelling at Siri or being curt with ChatGPT will lead you to behave worse with other people, and lower your well-being.”
“In short, be polite for your own sake,” Brooks writes. “And be aware that if tech-mediated interactions are making you less polite, that can still hurt your happiness. Quitting the internet or returning to a world without AI is impractical, so the solution to this challenge of courtesy lies in how you consciously decide to behave.”
🎨: Jan Buchczik
