[scaramanga]

Glad you asked. There are two types of kindness:

- The one you employ as a manipulation to get something you want out of an interaction. Not to make a moral judgement on this, we all do it, when you want to buy a pack of gum at the convenience store you affect kindness (we call it "being polite") in order to make the transaction go smoothly.

- The one which requires empathy. Empathy requires a sense of self, combined with the ability to recognise the same selfness in others.