The Kindness Filter: A Dream That Ought to Be
“Sasha, darling, remember how you asked me to tell you if ever I heard of a need—one so hidden it hadn’t even been voiced yet? Well, I’ve found just such a thing,” Rita paused in the doorway of her husband’s study, her gaze hopeful.
“Now you’ve got me curious, love. Go on.”
“Do you know what I find utterly missing in all this endless online chatter?” She settled beside him and added quietly, “A kindness filter. A sort of… translator of light, one that could turn rudeness, cruelty, and spite into something civil and decent. So that reading comments or work emails wouldn’t make you want to burrow under the duvet.”
“Rita, has someone upset you?”
“No, my dear, not anyone in particular. But lately, scrolling through socials, forums, work chats—it feels as though buckets of anger and spite are being dumped over me. People don’t hold back anymore. They lash out, mock, belittle. As if all restraint has vanished.”
She fell silent for a moment, her eyes downcast.
“Sometimes I wonder if it’s my own nerves at fault. Have I grown too thin-skinned? But then again, should we really grow accustomed to such coarseness, as if it’s just background noise?”
Sasha sighed. He’d watched her daily, parsing dozens of messages in her work as an analyst for a large firm, gauging public sentiment.
“Sadly, the angry ones shout the loudest. There’ve always been a few, but the internet’s become their perfect breeding ground. Anonymity loosens tongues—no consequences, just raw emotion. But you’re right. The world’s turning toxic. And your idea… it’s a strong one. Real. Tell me more—how do you see it?”
“I’d imagine an app or an extension. Say you’re reading comments under a video—each one gets transformed automatically. Not ‘you fool,’ but ‘I don’t quite follow your point.’ Not ‘shut up,’ but ‘perhaps we could look at this differently?’ Can you picture it?”
“Wait—so you’re suggesting not blocking, but rewriting?”
“Yes! But voluntarily. The user chooses to switch on the filter and decides where it applies—maybe certain sites, maybe just work chats where civility matters.”
“And what if it worked the other way too? Softening your own words before sending?”
“That would be perfect! None of us are saints, especially on frazzled days. Sometimes you just want to vent—then later, you read what you wrote and c”But with this filter, it might suggest: ‘Perhaps a gentler phrasing?’ or offer an alternative, saving us from our own sharp tongues.”
