I'm not talking about being nice out of naive altruism, I'm talking about the selfish desire for karmic serenity. Sure, we could always act like assholes, but

I'm not talking about being nice out of naive altruism, I'm talking about the selfish desire for karmic serenity. Sure, we could always act like assholes, but for many of us it doesn't feel good. That was Adam Smith's first book, "theory of moral sentiments", if you are into that sort of thing.