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Historian Barbara Taylor and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips don't believe that nice people finish last. In their new book, On Kindness, the authors employ history, social theory and psychoanalysis to chart how kindness has become a pejorative word over the years. Taylor spoke with TIME from her home in London about how success doesn't require cruelty, why people distrust generous gestures and how President Obama might be bringing the virtue back...
...book you use history and psychoanalysis to explain what kindness means today and how it has evolved. Why take that route? Taylor: I had got fed up with seeing stuff in the media about people suddenly discovering that being nice to others made them happier than being self-interested or greedy. How is it that people don't know this? In order to understand what's happened to kindness in contemporary society, it's important to understand how we got here. (See 20 ways to get and stay happy...
There seems to be this idea that during difficult economic times like this one, people are more inclined to be kind to one another. What's your take on that notion? When Adam and I set out to write the book, of course, we had absolutely no idea that we were going to be publishing it in the middle of a global financial meltdown. Pushing the book out into the current situation has been fascinating because there's clearly a great deal of moral questioning going on and a lot of anxiety about the mentalities that have been encouraged over...
...think kindness might sometimes hinder the pursuit of success or achievement? I don't think there is an incompatibility between kindness and leading a life that gives you satisfaction and pleasure. The core argument of the book, in a sense, is that one almost requires the other. Kindness is a huge source of pleasure for people. There's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't make it a selfish emotion...
...think President Obama's rhetoric, and his emphasis on empathy in difficult times, might trickle down to engender the sort of kindness you stress in the book? Hard times don't necessarily make people nicer to each other. I think that's a myth. When people feel really anxious and fearful for themselves and their families, that doesn't necessarily foster kindly feelings. It can create a really bunkerist mentality. I think that there are many wonderfully encouraging things going on right now, and certainly Obama's presidency is right up there. But I think people need to feel confident...