Harvard students to take a “kindness pledge” or something

“As we begin at Harvard, we commit to upholding the values of the College and to making the entryway and Yard a place where all can thrive and where the exercise of kindness holds a place on par with intellectual attainment.”

The original plan was to post the pledge in each dorm entryway, along with the names and signatures of the students living there. Although signing was supposed to be voluntary, any dissent would have been obvious…

True, our public discussions could surely benefit from more fair-minded Greg Mankiws (regardless of political persuasion) and fewer vicious Paul Krugmans (ditto). But a kindness pledge won’t get us there. And the anti-criticism norm that prevails in other Harvard classrooms points to the problem of equating kindness with civility or fairness.

Kindness isn’t a public or intellectual virtue, but a personal one. It is a form of love. Kindness seeks, above all, to avoid hurt. Criticism — even objective, impersonal, well- intended, constructive criticism — isn’t kind. Criticism hurts people’s feelings, and it hurts most when the recipient realizes it’s accurate. Treating “kindness” as the way to civil discourse doesn’t show students how to argue with accuracy and respect. It teaches them instead to neither give criticism nor tolerate it.