Niceness, Flattery, and Deceit

Abstract

Popular culture helps trace the contours of conventional wisdom. In Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and How You Live in It, Thomas de Zengotita (2005) lays the foundation for understanding the way niceness leads to deceit. While initially uneasy with this arrangement, he works to describe and ultimately embrace niceness and its association with deceit. Despite the deceit, de Zengotita identifies niceness as a core virtue and central value of modernity—a default communicative practice within our digital age (pp. 72, 78). This essay explores the historical emergence of nice as a term and an idea; reviews present considerations and manifestations of niceness; and offers a preliminary investigation into the dynamics and dimensions of its intrinsic deceits.

Keywords:

• Communication Practices
• Deceit
• Flattery
• MacIntyre
• Niceness

Acknowledgements

We would like to offer thanks to Dr. Janie M. Harden Fritz, Sarah Constant, and to our reviewers who provided insightful comments and direction.