Of course we don't have to be "mean" for the most part. "Firm" is the better way to put it.
If your ideas are NOT good you will often resort to bullying, bluff and threats, rather than engaging in a respectful fact based and reasoned argument- because you cannot win that.
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True. When you have bad ideas you can only resort to emotional manipulation. Either you're mean to bully and intimidate people into agreeing with you, or you're nice to make them feel good so they agree with you
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