<p>“I value niceness, but I think it’s something that you have to work on.”</p>
<p>Exactly. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I could use a reminder that I should be working on it. That’s all I think this is intended to be.</p>
<p>'I’ve witnessed/experienced some of those unintended consequences even in the absence of such a pledge and let me tell you…it does have a chilling effect on students who are inclined to challenge conventional wisdom of the majority of their classmates/Profs in and out of class."</p>
<p>I don’t question your observation in another context. It’s just going to be a boiling hot January day in Cambridge when Harvard students don’t challenge one another over academic/political issues. That’s what they came there for. Anyone who tries to shut down civil criticism of a weak argument with an accusation of unkindness is going to be viewed as a fool. It won’t work.</p>